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KLOPSTOCK 



AND 



HIS FRIENDS. 



ITT # 



KLOPSTOCK 



A 

AND 



HIS FRIENDS. 



A SERIES OF FAMILIAR LETTERS, 

WRITTEN BETWEEN THE YEARS 1750 AND 1803. 



f\ 



TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, 

WITH A 

BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION, 

BY 

MISS BENGER. 



LONDON: 
PRINTED FOR HENRY COLBURN, 

CONDUIT-STREET, HANOVER-SQUARE. 

Sold also by G. GOLDIE, Edinburgh 5 and J. CUMMING, 

Dublin. 

1814. 



2 



^ > 









Printed by Cox and Baylia. 
Great Queen Street, Lmcoln's-lnu-Fields* 



INTRODUCTION 



TO THE 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



JL H E original volumes from which these letters are 
translated, appeared about four years ago in Ger- 
many, under the attractive and appropriate title 
of " Klopstock and his Friends ;" and seldom has 
any correspondence been ushered into the world 
with such faif pretensions to respect, or so safe a 
passport to popularity. It contains an outline of 
the poet's life, from 1750 to 1802, and was edited 
by Klamer Schmidt, a writer of some reputation, 
who had long been intimately acquainted with 
Klopstock, and by whose care the original letters 
were collated from the papers in the possession of 
his widow (Johanna von Wendthem), and the post- 
humous MSS. of his oldest correspondents. Of 
his ability for the task, the work affords ample 
testimony, and the feeling manner in which he 
presents it to his country, as an offering of 

b friendship 



11 INTRODUCTION. 

friendship and patriotism, might alone hatfe excited 
interest and secured approbation -> certain it is, 
this appeal to the sensibility and enthusiasm of his 
compatriots, was not made in vain; and the success 
of " Klopstock and his Friends " on the Continent, 
has been such, as to satisfy the editor's most san- 
guine expectations. In England, these letters must 
obviously be introduced under a different aspect : 
our national sympathies are not interested in their 
favour, nor is either our pride or our gratitude to 
be engaged for their protection. 

More than half a century has elapsed, since the 
genius of Klopstock was recognized in this country, 
by the few German scholars, sufficiently familiar 
with the higher flights of poetry, to relish the pe- 
culiar cast of his style and composition ; from that 
period, his claims to celebrity were indisputably es- 
tablished j but The Messiah could not be appreciated 
by a prose version, and of his other poems, what 
translation could be attempted ? His real admirers 
were, therefore, confined to select literary circles, 
whose decisions are uncontroverted, because un- 
examined, and whose praise confers a sort of ho- 
norary title to distinction, without the privilege 
or power, annexed to the possession of popular 
fame. 

11 was not till within a few years that this distant 
respect was converted into a warmer sentiment. 

Mrs. 



INTRODUCTION. Ill 

Mrs. Barbauld first contributed to the change, by 
selecting from Richardson's correspondence those 
charming letters of Margaret Klopstock, which are 
now familiar to the public. Under those auspices 
of genius, of taste, of virtue, Klopstock became an 
object of general attention, and the poet was che- 
rished for the sake of the man. 

The interesting memoirs of Miss Smith,* have 
since secured him the affections of all her readers ; 
and at present, so popular is the name prefixed to 
this collection, that though it may be no protection 
from censure, it is at least a security from neglect. 

Of the partiality that prevails in this country, 
for epistolary compositions, we have the most de- 
cided evidence, in the numerous volumes of cor- 
respondence, successively presented to the public. 
The neglected bard, who had wasted life in ob- 
scurity, is often raised by the violators of his con- 
fidence, to a degree of posthumous reputation : 
even eminent poets have sometimes derived from 
their casual correspondence, more distinction than 
they could obtain, by their most meritorious produc- 
tions. The letters of Cowper, are well known to 
have been more lucrative than all his poems and 

b 2 translations; 

* It is impossible to advert to this publication without ob- 
serving, that Miss Smith, with all her personal graces and extra- 
ordinary attainments- — her simplicity, modesty, and magnani- 
mity, was precisely such a being as Klopstock would have be«* 
proud to celebrate. 



IV INTRODUCTION. 

translations ; and those of Burns, possess attractions, 
even for such minds as are wholly insensible to his 
most exquisite strains of pathos and description. 
So general is this epistolary taste, that without the 
authority of popular names, and with no excitement 
of curiosity, we have lately witnessed the brilliant 
success that has attended the publication of a se- 
ries of private letters, of which it was the simple 
but universal charm, that they spoke the language 
of truth and nature.* 

It cannot, however, be doubted, that the pleasure 
we receive from private letters, is greatly enhanced, 
when they elucidate public events, in which we 
had a previous interest j or develope the character 
of a celebrated man, by filling up those chasms in 
his story, which ru> other channel of communication 
can supply. That the perusal of literary memoirs, 
is commonly attended with weariness and disap- 
pointment, is a truth attested by familiar expe- 
rience. It is so natural to imagine, that genius 
must be elevated above a vulgar destiny and petty 
occupations, that, till the history closes, not all the 
dry details, and desultory anecdote, with which 
curiosity is tantalized and impatience irritated, can 
destroy the illusion. We know not how to re- 
concile with the rapid evolutions of a master mind, 

the 

* " Letters from the Mountains/' of which an edition has als« v 
been published in America, 



INTRODUCTION. V 

the monotonous rotation of ordinary events. We 
turn with disgust from the cold biographic outline, 
of which the incidents might be comprized in an 
epitaph, and repine that the poet was not his own 
historian : it was for him alone to unfold those se- 
cret workings of the soul, which created in the 
apparent void, such strong and vivid interest : he 
only could describe the passions that broke the 
stillness of solitude and seclusion, that agitated his 
heart with the wildness of the storm, or cast on 
his lonely visions, some passing gleams of hope 
and glory. 

But were a poet to become his own biographer, 
we might equally be disappointed at the insipidity 
and coldness of his narrations ; how could he recall 
impressions in their very nature, fleeting and 
evanescent, and describe feelings too strong to be 
expressed in the past tense ? The history of the 
heart must be conveyed in the living language of the 
moment ; — it is, therefore, only by gaining access to 
his confidential letters, that we can truly know T , as 
he deserves to be known, the man of sensibility and 
genius. In reading these, we are always carried 
back w T ith more than chronological exactness, to 
the precise instant marked by the writer : we sym- 
pathize in all his sorrows and privations ; we par- 
ticipate in his pleasures, and have even an interest 
in his transient hopes and momentary delusions ; — 

b 3 the 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

the now runs on through months and years, and 
we are pleased to note the nothings that fill up the 
space. 

The correspondence of Klopstock, will be found 
to possess, in a supreme degree, that charm of con- 
fidence, which, from the shyness of the English 
character, is commonly wanting in our most fa- 
miliar letters. We find in these a negative merit of 
almost equal rarity, that of not having been written 
for publication, and have even an involuntary be- 
lief that they were dismissed without revision, by 
the writer. 

In the first and longest part of the collection, 
there is a regular series of letters from different in- 
dividuals, whose style is sufficiently characteristic 
to lead the reader to divine the correspondent's 
name, without referring to the signature. 

The respective writers are not so numerous as 
to occasion too much division of interest ; there 
is both unity in the design, and variety in the 
style ; and we can easily imagine all these epis- 
tolary personages, forming a circle, which has 
the frank simplicity of a family party, without its 
deprecated dulness. 

It seems necessary to premise some particulars 
of those, with whom we are soon to become ac- 
quainted. Unfortunately, Klamer Schmidt has 
been extremely sparing of his biographical infor- 
mation $ 



INTRODUCTION. Vll 

mation ; there is, however, consolation in the con- 
viction, that whatever he has thought proper to 
communicate, is of indisputable authority ; and 
it is perhaps better to rest satisfied with his few 
facts, t han to supply the deficiency from any less 
authentic source. 

The first figure in this group is the poet's fa- 
ther — the elder Klopstock. Without pretensions to 
birth or fortune, he had spent the greater part of 
his life in humble mediocrity at Quedlinburg, 
where he performed the functions of a magistrate, 
and by his upright conduct, secured the esteem of 
his fellow citizens. Unfitted by habits of abstrac- 
tion for the business of the world, and little dis- 
posed to direct his thoughts to mercenary specu- 
lations, he found it difficult, even aided by the 
economy of an excellent wife, to maintain his 
numerous family, and during the latter part of his 
life was in a state of comparative indigence ; he 
had, however, faithfully discharged the duties of 
a parent, in educating his children, and was 
not depressed with vain apprehensions for their 
future destiny. He was himself little indebted to 
cultivation, and his prominent merits and defects 
were such as belong to the self-formed character. 
His piety was fervent, but in some degree 
tinged with superstition ; with the spirit of an old 
Lutheran, he thirsted for polemical controversy, 

b 4 and 



Vlll INTRODUCTION. 

and once challenged the poet Gleim to a day's 
debate on some abstruse points of doctrine, ex- 
pressly stipulating, that no profane subject should 
be admitted into their discourse. " Whatever he 
" wrote," says Klamer Schmidt, " was like him- 
" self, frank, manly, and independent. He in- 
" dulged in the arbitrary use of French or Latin 
" words, which, mingled with German, formed 
" altogether a sort of mosaic style, of whimsical 
" singularity, His letters were truly characterise 
" tic ; but as most of these referred to family af- 
" fairs, or obscure books on obsolete subjects, and 
" as they had frequently too controversial an as- 
" pect, they were generally found unfit for pub- 
" lication, and are therefore unavoidably sup- 
" pressed." *. 

The elder Klopstock was proud of his son, 
and still prouder of The Messiah, the value of 
which was in his eyes considerably enhanced 
by its relation to theology. He interfered in the 
plan with the zeal of a disputant ; nor is it im- 
probable that the poet was secretly influenced 
by opinions to which he had always submitted 

with 

* This judicious remark of Mr. Klamer Schmidt applied al- 
most equally to the few he has retained, of which only two or 
three, and these merely as specimens, arc submitted to the Eng- 
lish reader. 



INTRODUCTION. IX 

with filial deference, when he resisted his own im- 
pulses to restore Abbadona to the regions of light.t 

During the last years of his life, which were 
embittered with care and sickness, the elder Klop- 
stock displayed the firmness of the philosopher with 
the fortitude of a christian, and finally expired 
with patriarchal piety and saintly resignation. 

His virtues are attested by the veneration 
they inspired in his children ; and Klopstock* s let- 
ter on his death, so touching from the artless man- 
ner in which it exhibits genuine grief, is a better 
tribute to his name than encomiastic monody or 
monumental inscription. 

Of an opposite cast to this patriarchal corres- 
pondent, is his nephew, the volatile, fantastic 
Schmidt, the votary of Anacreon and Horace, and 
yet the professed panegyrist of Klopstock. In 
one of his letters, the reader will find a descrip- 
tion of his character, drawn by himself, which, as 
Klamer Schmidt intimates, is a correct resem- 
blance. 

From childhood he had associated with Klop- 
stock as his dearest friend, and was the first to 
recognize, and to proclaim, his cousin's superior 
genius. Yet in the following correspondence it 
will appear that he avows for Gleim a preference 
he had never felt for Klopstock. Though born to 

affluence, 

t See Miss Smith's Memoirs. 



X INTRODUCTION. 

affluence, he spent some years at.Langasalze, in 
a retirement unsuited to his taste, which gave no 
scope to his talents, and where his chief solace 
appears to have been the society of his sister, the 
beautiful Fanny, so passionately beloved — so fondly 
celebrated by the author of The Messiah. 

Like his two correspondents, Schmidt was a 
poet, but distinguished from both by a playful 
tone of raillery, which was sometimes indulged at 
their expence ; he often smiles at the fine poetical 
phrenzy of Klopstock, nor does even Gleim, for 
whom he professes a degree of regard little short 
of adoration, always escape his archness. But his 
sprightly vein affords such an agreeable relief to 
the sentimental pensiveness of Klopstock, that 
we are disposed to allow for the indulgence of his 
favourite propensity — and it is not without dis- 
satisfaction that we so soon lose sight of him in the 
correspondence. Of the circumstances which led 
to this estrangement, no particulars are commu- 
nicated ; but we accidentally learn, that Schmidt 
finally fixed his residence at Weimar, and died 
there in 1807, three years after his early friends 
Klopstock and Gleim had paid the debt of nature. 

The sister of Schmidt, the accomplished Fanny, 
next claims attention; and though we find but 
two of her letters in the collection, and those are 
too short to enable us to form any opinion of her 

character, 



INTRODUCTION. XI 

character, yet having heard of her so often, we 
are gratified with even so trifling a specimen of 
her style and sentiments. 

From these two billets it is easy to discover 
that she was cultivated, and accustomed to literary 
conversation ; but though the enamoured Klop- 
stock is pleased to call her a Sevigne, it is surely 
rather by contrast than comparison, that she ex- 
cites any recollection of that charming writer. 
Fanny became acquainted with the poet at Lan- 
gasalze in 1748, during his residence in the Weiss 
family. From that period she was the object of 
his idolatry ; and to use- the words of Klamer 
Schmidt, inspired him with a passion which tinged 
with gloom four brilliant years of his life. Fanny 
gave her hand in 1753 to a merchant in Eisenach, 
of whom her brother observed with his usual 
point, that he had not only sense and good humour, 
but a handsome person, and was consequently in pos- 
session of every requisite to make a reasonable dis- 
creet woman happy. 

Margaret Muller, the delightful Meta, is already 
perfectly known, and it only remains to add, that of 
her too few letters, not one has been suppressed, 
since even in writing on the most trifling occasion, 
she has a native charm that is all her own, and 
irresistibly inspires sympathy and affection. 

The most interesting correspondent after Meta is 

Gleim 



Xll INTRODUCTION. 

Gleini the poet, the scholar, the man of taste, the 
honorable confident and bosom counsellor of all his 
friends. He was born in 1715, at a place near 
Halberstadt, on the banks of the Selke, and but 
two miles distant from Quedlinburg, the native 
place of Klopstock. In their boyish days, how- 
ever, they had no intercourse. Gleim, who was 
some years the elder, was sent for education to 
Wernigrade, and probably never heard of his fu- 
ture friend till he had entered the lists of fame. 
His parents were eminent for worth and wisdom, 
and Gleim, like every other poet of that age in 
Germany, was equally distinguished for filial piety. 
He soon became conscious of his talents for poetry, 
and composed songs and odes in imitation of 
Anacreon and Horace. Destitute, however, of 
patrimony, he had to seek his fortune, and in 1740, 
accepted the post of secretary to Prince William 
of Sweden. The only benefit he reaped from this 
situation, was his introduction to the poet Kleist, 
with whom he formed a lasting friendship. In 
1749, he received an invitation from the Chapter 
of Halberstadt to assume the functions of their se- 
cretary, and was thus fixed for life in his native 
province. The salary annexed to his office was 
adequate to his moderate wishes, and although it 
imposed many irksome duties, he still found leisure 
for the Muses. He was never married, and his 

affections 



INTRODUCTION. Xlll 

affections seemed to center in a few chosen friends. 
As he advanced in life, he was apt to impute in- 
difference or anticipate neglect ; but at the first 
overture of kindness, was ready to present the 
calumet of peace, and renew the covenant of 
fidelity and affection. Of his intimate friend Kleist 
there is such frequent mention, that, like an ab- 
sent personage of the drama, we are always ex- 
pecting him to enter on the scene. 

Ewald Christian Kleist was born in 1718, near 
Coslin in Pomerania, and received his elementary 
education under the superintendance of his father, 
who was descended from an ancient family, and 
lived in retirement at the seat of his ancestor*. 
When the young Kleist quitted the paternal roof, 
he was placed in a public school at Dantziek : 
and having completed his academical course, was 
at length admitted as a student of jurisprudence 
in the university of Konigsberg. He pursued 
alternately the mathematics, medicine and phi- 
losophy, without losing his relish for polite litera- 
ture ; but, too active, or too ambitious, to be 
satisfied with scholastic seclusion, he visited Co- 
penhagen, where he had near relations, and was 
by their persuasion induced to accept a commis- 
sion in the Danish service : shortly after he re- 
turned on military duty to Pomerania, and there 
became attached to the lady he has celebrated 

under 



XIV INTRODUCTION. 

under the name of Doris. Circumstances op* 
posed their union, and the great Frederick having 
invited him to the Prussian service, he consoled 
himself for his unsuccessful passion, with the love 
of glory, and acquired considerable reputation 
during the campaigns of 1744 and 1745. On the 
suspension of hostilities, he repaired to Potsdam, 
and amused his vacant hours by writing The Spring, 
that celebrated poem, from the perusal of which, 
Klopstock conceived for him such enthusiastic af- 
fection. The success of this little work was bril- 
liant beyond example ; it was translated into Italian, 
and went through several editions in the same year. 
It is worthy of remark, that Kleist wrote no other 
poem in the same measure, and that in general 
his compositions were of a totally different cast. 
He was distinguished from the poets of the 
English school, by a vein of satire, and occasional 
allusions to men and manners. In the region of 
a court, he retained his own austere principles and 
simple habits, and perhaps caught a tincture of 
misanthropy, by being forced into a world with 
which he could not assimilate, and from which his 
heart recoiled with disgust. He remained unmar- 
ried, and this circumstance, with his imputed 
constancy to Doris, excited in Klopstock a peculiar 
interest in his destiny. Kleist appears to have 
corresponded with Gleim to whom he was sincerely 

attached. 



INTRODUCTION. XV 

attached, and who on his part repaid the affection 
with a fervor of enthusiasm which bordered on 
idolatry. This excellent man who lost his life in 
1759, at the battle of Cunersdorf, is, forty years 
after his death, mentioned by Gleim, with mingled 
tenderness and veneration. 

Sulzer and Schuldhess are not regular correspon- 
dents, and are besides sufficiently known, by the 
part they take in the Swiss Journal. 

Of Klopstock himself it is scarcely necessary to 
speak, since his character is so fully developed in 
the following pages. At the commencement of 
the correspondence he had recently left the Weiss 
family, with whom he lived in the capacity of a 
domestic tutor, and was proceeding to Switzer- 
land where he attracted universal homage ; but 
not all the caresses he received could estrange 
him from the recollection of his former com- 
panions, or atone to his susceptible heart for 
their reproofs or their neglect. With all the 
enthusiasm of native genius, its unappeasable 
desire of fame, and lofty aspirations after immor- 
tality, he still clings affectionately to his friends, 
on whose kindness and sympathy he is constantly 
dependent for his best pleasures 5 he is eager to 
impart to them whatever has given him delight, 
and, with childlike simplicity, expects they should 
»ot only share, but divide his triumphs. It is 

pleasing 



XVI INTRODUCTION. 

pleasing to observe the different style in which he 
addresses his parents ; to his mother he overflows 
with endearing confidence, he communicates any 
little circumstance calculated to gratify her mater- 
nal feelings, and withholds only his cares; but 
for his father he shews a sort of religious rever- 
ence, carefully abstaining from subjects of too 
light a cast to accord with his serious character ; 
to him, therefore, he mentions, not the honours 
he has received, but the arduous duties he has 
engaged to fulfil ; and when he announces his 
intention of composing a series of devotional 
hymns, it is obviously with the persuasion that he 
shall present an acceptable offering to his father's 
piety, and we easily discover an amiable solicitude 
to obtain his benediction. 

From the period of Margaret Klopstock's 
death, the correspondence devolves on the poet 
and Gleim, and, in the absence of dearer in- 
terests, sometimes takes a more literary cast. 
Those, however, who look for a transcript of 
books, or criticisms on authors, will inevitably be 
disappointed. Yet is it, perhaps, from this very 
circumstance, that the work may be considered as 
in some degree a literary curiosity, since it not 
only affords a specimen of the style which pre- 
vailed in Germany sixty years ago, but exhibits 
the character of their nascent literature, of which, 

if 



INTRODUCTION. XV11 

if we may credit one of their most elegant modern 
writers, the primitive spirit is now extinct. 

In a letter from Muller to Gleim, dated 1796, 
we have the following observation : " Just before 
" I received your poem of The Hut, I had been 
" reading in the Helvetic almanack for 17«50 a 
" letter of Hirzel, in which he mentions you and 
" Klopstock, and which brought to my mind all 
" the youthful gaiety that belonged to our new 
" literature, whose spirit still breathes in you. 
" (Imagine with what transports I have mused on 
" your Hut J No chronology was necessary to 
" ascertain that the date was, coeval with Hirzel's 
" letter, I find in both the true principles of 
" wisdom, content and liberty." Of this youth- 
ful spirit and its happy influence, it is impossible 
not to be sensible in reading the early series of the 
following letters. We have here a holiday view of 
human society ; the ordinary cares of life are sus- 
pended, the darker passions dismissed, the dis- 
tinctions of rank and fortune forgotten, the rich 
are gay, the poor contented. It is a native strain 
of happiness that makes every heart beat in unison 
with the simple movement. 

Klopstock and his friends appear to have realized 
whatever the poets of other countries have fancied 
of concord and truth, frankness and hospitality. 
The simple tastes, the domestic habits, and even 

c the 



XV1U INTRODUCTION* 

the domestic virtues, which, in a luxurious state 
of society, often form only the pleasures of the 
imagination, were to them the household Deities, 
whose influence produced perpetual renovation to 
the most common enjoyments ; these pleasures did 
not fade, the spirit of enthusiasm preserved them 
from languor and satiety. In the course of this 
correspondence we continually meet with charac- 
ters similar to those that delight us in the page of 
fiction, till we recollect that they have no proto- 
types in actual existence. The poets of that age 
formed a confederacy, from which jealousy and 
rivalship were excluded.* Animated by a noble 
object of national emulation, they rejoiced in mu- 
tual success, and cordially welcomed to their com- 
munion every new probationer of fame. Most of 
them lived in retirement, and with the exception 
of the literary men assembled in Berlin, who had 
their club and their academy, were seldom thrown 
into much society. They delighted in the inter- 
change of letters, and this commerce generally 
extended to many they had never seen, but for 
whom they had conceived an ardent attachment. 
It was in this manner that Klopstock laid the foun- 
dation of an intimacy which lasted half a century ; 
and afterwards, with as little ceremony, desired 

his 

* During Klopstock's long life, we hear only of hig feud with 
Bodmer, and that, to his honour, was suppressed; 



INTRODUCTION. XIX 

his friend Gleim to write to Margaret Muller, whom 
he only knew by his partial description. We may 
be permitted to smile at their proneness to such 
sudden impressions, and their extreme facility in 
submitting to them; but we shall be unable to 
withhold respect for their undeviating rectitude 
and manly independence ; and this respect will in 
generous minds be exalted to veneration, when we 
consider to what point their efforts were directed, 
and what object their perseverance achieved. 

In other countries, both of ancient and modern 
Europe, the birth of literature has been coeval 
with some great political or moral changes, and 
heralded by awful triumphs, or illustrious cala- 
mities ; but the Teutonic harp was attuned in a 
season of stillness and security ; the chords did not 
vibrate wildly to the elements, nor was the melody 
divided by the murmurs of the storm. Yet the ge- 
nius of poetry was not invoked by royal munificence. 
In the court of Frederick, though filled with men 
of letters, the native language was despised and 
neglected; and there was no other prince suffi- 
ciently powerful or enlightened, to be a patron 
and protector. It was from the people alone that 
this literary reformation emanated. The agents 
in the grand design were no other than private 
individuals, who in an obscure station, were ca- 
pable of enlarged views and exalted sentiments ; 

c 2 men 



XX INTRODUCTION. 

men patient of poverty, invincible to difficulty, 
animated not by patronage but patriotism, mag- 
nanimous in their indifference to fortune, insatiable 
in their desire of glory. Such were the men by 
whom the literature of Germany was called into 
existence ; with the spirit of heroes, they persever- 
ed till they had presented to their country this 
intellectual trophy, which suddenly rose like the 
monumental mounds of their northern ancestors, 
when every soldier rilled his helmet with earth, 
and none rested on his spear :* and which, like 
them, shall remain when the labours of cotem- 
porary statesmen and warriors are consigned in 
obscurity and oblivion. 

The German language, it is well known, pos- 
sesses peculiar aptitudes for metrical modulation ; 
but independent of language, the society in which 
such men had arisen, must have been congenial to 
the poetical character. Who does not know that 
the sensibilities of the uncorrupted heart, the ener- 
gies of the nobler mind, the emotions produced 
by the moral beautiful and sublime, are all allied 
to the spirit of poetry ? 

Klopstock and his colleagues were not only 
sheltered from criticism, but assured of that cor- 
dial reciprocation which confirms confidence. It 

was 

* See Mallet's Northern Antiquities. 



INTRODUCTION. XXI 

was the happy moment of inspiration, not such as 
ripens exquisite genius, but which awakens the 
consciousness of talents, and bids every bud of 
fancy expand in free luxuriance. 

It might appear remarkable that, in a country 
distinguished by the jealous vigilance of rank, men 
of letters, without birth or fortune, should have so 
easily obtained superior consideration ; but it must 
be remembered that they extorted esteem by their 
principles, entered into no political intrigues, and 
were as little tools of faction as slaves of corrup- 
tion. It was to the people they looked for patro- 
nage and protection ; cheered by their applause, 
rewarded with their attachment, they used no un- 
worthy means to attract a few transient smiles 
from those, whom Nature had doomed to insig- 
nificance ; they scorned to be mendicants of praise 
or parasites of prosperity. Above all, they en- 
sured respect from the public, by lending encou- 
ragement and assistance to each other. The de- 
marcation of ranks might contribute to cement 
their union. It is perhaps of advantage to the 
literary class when they can aspire to no order 
more dignified than their own, since they are thus 
preserved from the petty ambition which too often 
subverts integrity with glory, and renders a titular 
honour synonimous with a moral degradation. 

Nothing can be more independent than the 
c 3 spirit; 



XXII INTRODUCTION. 

spirit that breathes through the following corf es* 
pondence ; and these letters would perhaps deserve 
publication, were it only for the new and pleasing 
light in which they exhibit the votaries of poetry, 
and their comparatively happy destiny. 

The condition of literary men in Germany, ap- 
pears to have been almost as singular as the manner 
in which their literature was created. We hear 
not of a Cervantes, a Spencer, a Butler, of detrac- 
tion added to unkindness, of obloquy aggravating 
neglect ; still less do we hear of any by whose mo- 
ral turpitude the name of poetry or philosophy was 
disgraced. — The Gessners, the Gellerts, the Hal- 
lers, the Herders, and a host of names, conspire to 
attest the natural coalition between moral and in- 
tellectual excellence. After such ample testimony, 
who shall affirm that the pursuits of poetry are 
inimical to virtue — who shall believe that the poet 
is by nature disqualified for happiness ? 

In the character of Klopstock, it is impossible 
not to detect those temperamental sensibilities* 
which have been supposed to include the seed of 
future misery, and his passage through life was 
marked by circumstances which in another coun- 
try might perhaps have doomed him to wretched- 
ness and desolation. At the commencement of his 

career, 

* See an eloquent passage in Dr. Currie's life of Burns. 



INTRODUCTION. XX111 

career, he had to struggle with indigence, nor did the 
subsequent friendship of Count BernstorrT, or the fa- 
vour of his master, secure to him the blessings of ease 
and competence, since in the letter on his father's 
death, he laments his inability to defray the expences 
of his sister's education. On his retnrn to Hamburgh, 
he depended on casual or precarious resources for 
subsistence, and late in life scrupled accepting pre- 
sents from Angelica KaufTman, because he could 
make no return but thanks ; yet was Klopstock 
not unhappy, for he lived where wealth was not 
necessary to procure respect, or to purchase the 
luxuries of intellectual association. He lived with 
companions congenial to his mind and heart, by 
whom noble sentiments were not as enthusiasm 
deprecated, or as eccentricity disclaimed ; ge- 
nerosity was not derided as romance, nor disin- 
terested conduct stigmatized as insanity ! In the 
ardor and independence of his character, he had 
also another source of permanent delight. It was 
his privilege not only to have co-operated in the* 
creation of a national literature, but to have ani- 
mated others by the example of his patriotism and 
emulation. He lived to realize the visions of im- 
passioned youth, to see himself the patriarch of 
German poetry — to behold the shoot he had grafted 
bud forth in rich luxuriance on the parent stem, 
with the promise of immortal bloom and beauty. 

e4 He 



XXIV INTRODUCTION. 

He could recall the time when the language in 
which he thought and wrote, had been abandoned 
to homely obscurity ; he might trace its progress 
from captivity to conquest ; he had been among 
the first to assert its rights, and it was his pride to 
see them acknowledged by the most cultivated 
nations of Europe. " Should the next century 
produce as many detractors as the present," says 
Klamer Schmidt, " still will they be unable to de- 
prive the poet of one imperishable laurel, still must 
envy and detraction allow him the merit of having 
tuned to harmony our national lyre, which was 
before rude and dissonant." 

In a literary view, indeed, Klopstock ap- 
pears to have been singularly favored by for- 
tune : having been raised by a youthful effort, 
when the powers of his mind were but partially 
unfolded, to the absolute possession of fame. Emi- 
nently happy in the subject he had chosen, we 
find him hailed not only as a poet but almost as an 
apostle. One admirer speaks of his sacred voca- 
tion, and another confesses herself indebted to his 
Messiah, for her first exalted conceptions of the 
Deity. The uncultivated were touched with the 
scriptural descriptions, and at once charmed and 
awed by those sacred images which had first been 
traced on their remembrance. The literary were 
charmed with the novelty of hexameters in Ger- 
man 



INTRODUCTION. XXV 

man verse, and by being published in single books, 
the objections to which the poem was most liable, 
from a defective plan, escaped the critical reader. 
The splendor of its success attracted a crowd of imi- 
tators, and the year 1750 was so prolific in attempts 
at the Epopea, that Schmidt quotes on the occa- 
sion, a remark of Ramler, that it would soon he 
difficult to determine whether it were the greater 
stigma not to write, or to have written, an epic 
poem. These ephemera have long since perished, 
whilst the Messiah still remains in lofty pre-emi- 
nence. That much of its former popularity is lost, 
must be inferred from Klamer Schmidt's allusion to 
critics and detractors. But the invention, and even 
the majesty of the numbers, is, as he justly ob- 
serves, a merit, to which even envy and detraction 
cannot refuse praise. 

The, Messiah has been happily compared to a 
Gothic church,* and surely ought not to be judged 

by 

* " Lorsqu'on commence ce poeme, on eroit entrer dans une 
grande £glise, au milieu de laquelle un orgue se fait entendre, 
et l'attendrissement et le recueillement que les temples du Sei- 
gneur inspirent, s'emparent de l'arae en lisant la Mcssiade." — 
De VAllemagne. 

It should be remembered that the Messiah was cotemporary 
with many works of a solemn cast in England ; such as Young's 
Night Thoughts, the Letters from the Dead to the Living, Hervey s 
Meditations, which had in its day a flow of popularity. Clarissa 
had been translated into German, and something like an imitation 
of Richardson's epistolary style maybe traced in Schmidt. 



XXVI INTRODUCTION. 

by the rules of Grecian composition. The defects 
in the plan, the confusion produced by the fatigu- 
ing number of characters, who are rather names 
than personages, must be obvious to the most su- 
perficial glance, whilst the grandeur in the con- 
ceptions, the elevation and dignity of the senti- 
timents, can, perhaps, be fully tasted only by a 
few poetical ruminators. 

Something like this is admitted by Gleim, when 
he says that Klopstock, like Milton, requires an 
Addison to point out his beauties to his country- 
men. In one of his transports of enthusiasm, the 
same friend exclaims, " Klopstock, thou art nei- 
ther Homer nor Pindar, but Eloa"* The real 
power of Klopstock resides in the enthusiasm with 
which he yields to his own impressions, forgetting 
all but an ideal world. He was no mastei of the 
passions ; he understood not their language. He 
had only studied man in the abstract, and was un- 
acquainted with the artificial idioms acquired in 
society. He had no eloquence but for those do- 
mestic affections which form the primitive voice 
of nature ; his imagination was conversant with 
beings of a higher order, yet in his wildest flights, 
he reminds the reader, by some native touches of 
pathos, that he is a man, and a brother. 

Whatever 

* Eloa is one of the Angels in the Messiah., who appears to 
bt the minstrel of heaven. 



INTRODUCTION. XXV11 

Whatever he wrote is so perfectly in harmony 
with his own character, that his true source of in- 
spiration should seem to have been the heart. In 
all his writings, he is animated either by friendship, 
or filial piety; by patriotism or devotion. Though 
decidedly of the English school, it cannot be 
said he proposed to himself any model of imita- 
tion. In exploring the same region as Milton, he 
deviates into an original track, and in adopting 
the same subjects as Young, he imparts to them 
his own amiable and almost feminine tenderness. 
His images of death have nothing to revolt the 
mind ; he finds a sacred joy in grief \ he delights 
in cherishing the images of departed friends, and 
anticipating their reunion in the realms of immor- 
tality. 

A few years after Meta's death, Klopstock be- 
came attached to a young lady of Blankenburg, 
who was not insensible to his affection ; but the 
father opposing the union, the acquaintance ter- 
minated abruptly, and the poet seemed to have 
relinquished the idea of forming another matri- 
monial connexion ; nor was it till after the lapse 
of twenty years, that he married Johanna von 
Wendhem, to whose youth he had been a paternal 
instructor, and who was from gratitude induced to 
become the companion and solace of his declining 
years. During this interval, Klopstock completed 

his 



XXV111 INTRODUCTION. 

his Messiah, wrote several scriptural plays, and 
composed a series of national odes, calculated to 
inspire his compatriots with veneration for the 
land of their fathers. The design of these poems 
was suggested to his mind by the Edda or Ice- 
landic Mythology, an admirable account of which 
is given in Mallet's preface to the History of Den- 
mark. His friend Schmidt had been attracted to 
this subject, many years before, by the perusal of 
Sir William Temple's Essay on Heroic Virtue ; but 
Klopstock, who drew his information from a more 
copious source, soon conceived the hope of ren- 
dering it subservient to the great object for which 
he lived, the exaltation of his country. 

He did not paraphrase those Runic fables, like 
Gray, and other English poets ; he merely employ- 
ed their machinery in his own original compositions, 
interweaving the marvellous legends of Scandinavia, 
with the romantic traditions of his forefathers. 
The great Arminius had been the idol of his youth- 
ful fancy ; and it was, therefore, from no new im- 
pulse, that he celebrated that renowned champion 
of freedom, under the popular name of Hermann. 

It appears that Gleim participated not in his 
friend's ardour for these remote researches ; and to 
the infinite chagrin of Klopstock, continued in his 
poems to prefer the native Gods of the Herci- 
nian forest, to the polished deities of Greece and 

Rome. 



INTRODUCTION. XXIX 

Rome. On this point alone, there existed between 
them a complete dissonance of sentiment ; Gleim 
could have adopted the predilection for Arminius, 
had Klopstock shewn the same disposition to 
recognize the merit of Frederick the Great, who 
was in his estimation the first of sovereigns and of 
heroes. From his intimacy with Kleist, he had in- 
bibed a partiality for Berlin and its literary circles, 
which continued to operate : his taste was not 
warped by prejudice ; and to talents, wherever 
they existed, he was ready to offer homage. In a 
letter to Muller, he confesses he is not so very a 
Gemnan as Klopstock and his echoes, who affected to 
consider Pope and Voltaire as pigmies in poetry . 

The schism of opinion in these faithful friends, 
extended not to the heart, and as little as Gleim 
cared for Arminius, he received the bardits or 
heroic odes, in which he was celebrated, with the 
most impassioned admiration. At the age of 
eighty, there was still youth in his soul ; and he 
retraced with transport, the scenes he had once 
enjoyed with Klopstock. He writes with an ear- 
nestness, that assures us he did not exaggerate 
his feelings : he entreats only to be permitted 
the perusal of his friend's unpublished poems; 
under the pressure of illness, he still wishes to live 
for this banquet ; and when afflicted with blind- 
ness, he dwells on the loss he sustains, in only 

hearing 



XXX INTRODUCTION. 

hearing them read, as the most cruel excess of the 
privation. 

Neither poetry nor patriotism swayed the soul of 
Gleim, like friendship ; it had been the ruling 
passion of his life ; and when every other human 
care had been resigned, still kept its place. On 
his death bed, he dictated to his old and dearest 
correspondent, this tender reproach : — " I am 
" dying, my friend ; and with the sincerity of a 
" dying man, will I say, — we have not lived enough 
*< together, nor enough for each other." It will 
appear, that the intimation, conveyed by these 
words, was not wholly undeserved ; and that Klops- 
tock, happy in his own domestic circle, had not 
always treated with due attention the desolate 
Gleim, who was but too sensible to imaginary neg- 
lect : but this weakness was the infirmity of decay- 
ing nature ; he was still capable of fortitude, and 
beguiled his tedious illness, by composing some 
lyrical poems, to which he gave the appropriate 
name of his " Last Hours." Of these " Last 
Hours," Klamer Schmidt observes, that they 
are not unworthy of his reputation ; and, without 
allowing himself to dwell on those last remains, 
with the coldness of a critic, thus proceeds 
to apostrophise the author : — " Farewell, thou 
man of noble nature I thou friend of friends ! who 
hast supplied to so many the place of father ! 

and 



INTRODUCTION. XXXI 

and wert also mine ! easily offended, easily ap- 
peased ; even in anger, was thy right hand 
frankly pledged to peace and forgiveness : thou 
explorer of modest virtue ! thou fosterer of 
neglected talents! little was there of dross in 
thy composition, and that little was separated long 
ere thine end, leaving only thy genuine worth, 
the sterling gold !'•* 

Klopstock outlived Gleim but a few months, and 
considering the intense feelings of the poor blind 
friend, it is soothing to reflect, that he was not 
the survivor. The publication of this correspond- 
ence had been proposed to him a short time pre- 
vious to his death, and received his cordial appro- 
bation. It can scarcely be doubted, that he was 
pleased with a suggestion which promised his friend 
any accession of reputation. Careless for himself, 
he seems to have built his ambition on Klopstock's 
fame ; and the following passage, in which the con- 
fessedly most eloquent writer of modern France, has 
paid homage to the author of the Messiah, might be 
considered as an oblation for the spirit of Gleim, 
and a tribute to his friendship and fidelity: — " Ceux 
qui ont connu Klopstock le respectent autant qu'ils 
l'admirent. La religion, la liberty, Pamour ont occupe 
toutes ses pensees 5 il professa la religion par l'ac- 
complissement de tous ses devoirs ; il abdiqua la 
cause meme de la liberte, quand le sang innocent 

l'eut 



XXX11 INTRODUCTION. 

1'eut souillee, et la fidelite consacra les attache- 
merits de son coeur. Jamais il ne s'appuya de son 
imagination pour justifier aucun ecart, elle exaltoit 
son ame sans Fegarer. On dit que sa conversation 
etoit pleine d'esprit et merae de gout ; qu'il aimoit 
Fentretien desfemmes,etsurtout celui desFranc^oises, 
et qu'il etoit bon juge de ce genre d'agremens que 
la pedanterie reprouve, je le crois facilement, car il 
y a toujours quel que chose d'universel dans le genie, 
et peut-etre meme tient-il par des rapports secrets 
a la grace, du moins a celle que donne la na- 
ture. Combien un tel homrae etoit loin de Fenvie, 
de Fegoisme,et des fureurs de vanite, dont plusieurs 
ecrivains se sont accuses au riom de leurs talens ! 
s'ils en avoient eu davantage, aucun de ces defauts 
ne les auroit agites. On est orgueilleux, irritable, 
etonne de soi-meme, quand un peu d'esprit vient se 
meler a la mediocrite du caractere ; mais le vrai 
genie inspire de la reconnoissance et de la mo- 
destie : car on sent qui Fa donne et Fon sent aussi 
queries bornes celui qui Fa donne y a mises. 

" On trouve, dans la seconde partie de la Mes- 
siadc, ur ires-beau morceau sur la mort de Marie, 
sceur de Marthe et de Lazare, et designee dans 
Fevangile comme Fimage de la vertu contemplative. 
Lazare, qui a recu de Jesus Christ une seconde fois 
la vie, dit adieu a sasoeiiravecun melange dedouleur 
et de contrance profon dement sensible. Klopstock 

a fait 



INTRODUCTION. XXXlll 

a fait des derniers moments de Marie le tableau de 
la mort du juste, Lorsqu'a son tour il etoit aussi 
sur son lit de mort, il repetoit d'une voix expirante 
ses vers sur Marie ; il se les rappeloit a travers les 
ombres du cercueil, et les pronongoit tout bas pour 
s'exhorter lui-meme a bien mourir : ainsi les sen- 
timents exprimes par le jeune homme etoient assez 
purs pour consoler le vieillard. 

" Ah qu'il est beau le talent, quand on ne l'a ja- 
mais profane, quand il n'a servi qu'a reveler aux 
hommes, sous la forme attrayante des beaux arts, 
les sentiments genereux et les esperances religieuses 
obscurcies au fond de leur cceur ! 

" Le meme chant de la mort de Marie fut lu a la 
ceremonie funebre de Penterrement de Klopstock. 
Le poete etoit vieux quand il cessa de vivre ; mais 
Phomme vertueux saisissait deja les palmes immor- 
telles qui rajeunissent Pexistence et fleurissent sur 
les tombeaux. Tous les habitants de Hambourg 
rendirent au patriarche de lalitterature les honneurs 
qu'on n'accorde guere ailleurs qu'au rang ou au 
pouvoir, et les manes de Klopstock rec^urent la re- 
compense qui meritoit sa belle vie." — De V Alle- 



KLOPSTOCK 



AND 



HIS FRIENDS. 



LETTER I. 

From Schmidt to Gleim, 



Leipsic, May 9th, 1750. 
YOU see how bold I am, and that even in this 
early stage of our acquaintance I scruple not to 
claim all the privileges of ancient friendship ; but 
you will cease to wonder at my importunity, when 
you recollect that I am rapid and impetuous in all 
my movements, and that an attachment which is 
scarcely four weeks old, has reached in my heart the 
patriarchal standard of a century. 

To confess the truth, Klopstock already prefers 
you to his early friend, and but for the fear of 
seeming to boast overmuch, I should be tempted 
to say, I have a strong inclination to retaliate by 

d 2 



36 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

imitating his example. My sister, who presents 
to you many compliments, can talk to Klopstock 
of nothing but her lover Doris* Be not surprized 
that I call the maid not Daphne, but simply my 
sister ; I can assure you I am never better pleased 
to give her that title, than when another bard like 
yourself considers her sufficiently attractive to 
merit a poetical appellation. 

A thousand thanks for the odes I have received* 
On some future post day you may expect from 
Klopstock and me a Messiah and an Iliad ; I ea- 
gerly anticipate your letter, and perhaps shall 
accompany Klopstock on his next visit to Hal- 
berstadt.* 

Postscript from Klopstock. — I can now but 
briefly say, my dear Gleim, what I shall soon 
repeat in a long letter, I hold you so dear that I 
feel I shall soon be entitled to contend with Kleist 
for a place in your heart. 

Postscript by Fanny. — My brother says it will 
be agreeable to Mr. Gleim to receive the assurance 
of my esteem and admiration j may I hope he is 
right ? 

* The place of Gleim's residence. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. , 37 

LETTER II. 

Klopstoclc to Gleim. 

Langesalze,* Whitsun Eve, 

My dearest Mr. Gleim, 

How sincerely do I rejoice, that the time ap- 
proaches for our meeting, when you shall see 
whether I have indeed a heart, and with what an 
unhomeric mien I can embrace you. Had you 
not happened to come to Leipsic, or had I hap- 
pened to visit your neighbourhood, I should long 
since have been familiar with you, and, from the 
first glance, endeavoured to discover how far I 
might dispute with Kleist the possession of your 
heart. It is now almost three quarters of a year 
since I first read his Spring, arid, from that mo- 
ment, was drawn to him by a stronger impulse of 
affection, than I could have believed it possible to 
feel for any friend I had never seen, however 
noble and sacred to my imagination. 

So dear, indeed, do I hold him, that I cannot 
think, without emotion, of your communicating to 
him my sentiments — what a glimpse of heaven 
if we should be mutual friends ! We have, with 

* Langesalze, is a small town of Thuringia, in the north of 
Saxony. It was here that Klopstock spent some years in the 
family of Mr. Weiss,, as domestic tutor ; the Schmidts resided in 
the same place. 

D 3 



38 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

regard to one subject, on which I no longer trust 
myself to speak, the same destiny ; with this dif- 
ference, however, that I am still more unfortunate 
than your incomparable friend* If I may hope 
that Kleist has read some of my midnight effu- 
sions, he is, in the strict sense, the only reader 
who perfectly enters into all my thoughts and 
feelings. 



LETTER III. 

Schmidt to Gleim. 

LangesaSze, July 1750. 

This is not the long letter I promised \ forgive 
the delay — indeed, when I consider how often 
I have been disturbed in my wonted epistolary 
inspirations, I am surely entitled to claim for- 
giveness from your justice. At any rate I have 
but sinned like Klopstock, whose Messiah was 
promised to the public at Easter $ and really, 
an Iliad of a letter addressed to you, full of 
nothing but friendship, is in its way, as diffi- 
cult to write, and, as a curiosity, no less to be 
valued than the Messiah. Were I only to write 
the history of my feelings, I ought to possess every 
talent that belongs to the historian, and should 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 39 

have as much reason to invoke assistance from the 
muses, as the poet who sings of angels and devils, 
of death and hell. 

But the muses deign not to remain with their hum- 
ble votary ; they take little interest in my success ; 
they shew not the friendship they bear to Gleim, and 
that Gleim transfers to me. I am accustomed to 
have many quarrels with my heart, and one of 
the most violent conflicts between us is to restrain 
the impulse which prompts it to pour forth every 
feeling to you. My Gleim, how happy am I ! Hush, 
heart be still, thou shall not assume the master ; I 
will not submit to the insolent usurpation — never 
was any thing so refractory ; no Briton is more 
impatient of tyranny than this perverse thing of 
the slightest contradiction ; again in a state of 
mutiny, again its violent throbs almost compel me 
to lay down the pen ; how many pangs did it make 
me suffer for the girl I left in Leipsic ! (ah Gleim !) 
that girl was an incomparable being ; peace, tor- 
ment or peace— if I only knew what right the 
heart can have to arrogate such power — but it has 
no more pretensions to self controul than a child, 
or the kings of France, who think it fair for all 
their wild vagaries to assign that most comprehen- 
sive of reasons, I will. 

With regard to poetry, I have at present no lei- 
d 4 



40 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

sure to think of such compositions, I feel with 
more energy than I can express, and to write on 
any subjects but such as are prompted by feeling, 
this wicked heart of mine allows me neither time 
nor liberty. Am I not a babbler ? how rambling 
is this letter ! pray consider it as a little Iliad, 
and to eke out the comparison, you have only to 
set such passages as refer to business, against 
Horner's descriptions of the horses, and add to 
these some indifferent speeches of the Gods * 



LETTER IV. 

Klopstoch to Gleim. 

Quedlinburg, June 20tlr, 1750. 

As you wished me to accompany you in your 
late excursion, know, I, in fancy, hovered over 
your steps, and enjoyed with you all those agree- 
able rural scenes, of which I can still recal a kind of 
twilight view to remembrance. But do not imagine 
I would allow my spirit to venture with you to the 
magic circle of female beauty ; I should hava 
found it too tantalizing to have merely an ideal 
participation of such enjoyment. Sulzer's in- 
tended is indeed a delightful girl, and appears not 

* Those passages do not appear. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 41 

a little disposed to become my friend ; I should 
not despair of inspiring the same good-will in the 
amiable girls of Magdeburg, but what is all this 
compared with the privilege of having found such 
a friend as my dearest Gleim ? Nothing in this 
world is more precious than friendship except love, 
and love only in the pure exalted sense, such as I 
long since felt, and you perhaps will some day 
learn to feel ; I knew all this an age ago, but it is 
a satisfaction when our internal convictions are 
re-echoed to the heart by new and lively impres- 
sions. 

LETTER V. 

Klopstock to Fanny. 

Quedlinburg, July 10th, 1750. 

Yesterday, my dearest cousin, I returned from 
Magdeburg, where, in the full tide of gaiety and 
enjoyment, I still missed the one little letter I had 
so earnestly implored, and which was alone want- 
ing to complete my felicity. How easy would it 
have been to you to dispatch, on this gentle errand, 
the little Anacreontic dove,* how very easy — but — 
I am tempted to revile the inflexibility — I would 
fain abuse you if I could — I would even deny 

* Klopstock always employed this allegorical phraseology in 
speaking of his correspondence with Fanny. 



42 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

that you are the best and dearest of your sex, if I 
could find in my heart to do so. I ought, at least, 
to suppress my own promised sketch of our ex- 
cursion, since I am now deprived of the very cir- 
cumstance on which I could have been most 
eloquent ! 

Had you but deigned to write, how happily 
might I have introduced the following passage 
into my description : " it was here that I received 
" her letter, when quitting the party, and almost 
" forgetting their existence, I shut myself up in 
" the prettiest room on the island, to muse on 
" Fanny. I sought the most shady walks, I plunged 
*• into the deepest recesses to have no companions 
" but my own delicious meditations. Meanwhile, 
" the girls too, (charming girls,) were in quest of 
" me, but I was no where to be found ; and why 
" was I not found? or rather, why did they not 
" know, there could be no human being so amiable, 
"so attractive as Fanny ?" 

All this, my dear cousin, and much more, might 
have been said on your letter, if, (unhappily, to 
spoil the description,) it were not the simple fact 
that it had never been written. Quitting this 
theme, I will now give you some account of our 
journey ; Gleim and myself, drawn by four steeds 
not unworthy to have run at the Olympic games, 
performed a journey of six miles, in six hours. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 43 

No sooner had we arrived, than we were joined by 
Hempel, a painter, and bel esprit — one word of 
him as an artist en passant — he is at present copy- 
ing all the faces on the island, and consequently 
performs ar important part. With him we pro- 
ceeded to the house of Bachmann,* in whose occu- 
pation are the delicious gardens, and who is him- 
self an elder in religion, a sage in natural philo- 
sophy, a lover of the arts, and, to sum up all, an 
upright man ! Righteousness is written on his brow. 
We found here the greater part of our company : 
there was Sulzer, whom you know through your 
brother; Miss GuisenhofF, Sulzer's intended ; a 
girl who has speaking eyes, an understanding not 
unworthy of their eloquence, and who cultivates 
a taste for natural history, and has collected several 
chests of curiosities ; and yet dresses with elegance, 
plays admirably, and sings Italian airs. Then comes 
her sister, Miss Wernigrad, who is almost such 
another, but not quite the same ; Monsieur de la 
Veaux, from Halle, who resembles Bachmann, and 
Bachmann' s youngest son, a lad of thirteen, under 
Sulzer's tuition, who is already something between 

* Bachmann, a merchant, in whose family Sulzer lived as do- 
mestic tutor. — Mr. Sulzer, a native of Zurich, afterwards became 
professor and superintendant of the philosophical class in the 
academy at Berlin ; a man of science and taste, and, in his day, 
a writer of some reputation. 



44 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

the child and the man, and was most anxious to 
obtain from me the title of his little friend. 

Such was the party till we reached Bachmann's 
mansion ; and now, deserting the ladies we escorted, 
and forgetting those we met on the island ; leaving 
gardens enchanted, and unenchanted, pavilions, 
pictures, promenades, and every curiosity, natural 
and artificial ; I must instantly introduce you to a 
man who is worthy of your acquaintance, and who 
is no other than Mr. Sack, the first preacher in the 
Royal Chapel at Berlin: at the first glance he remind- 
ed me of the Abbot of Jerusalem, whom I formerly 
described ; but do not imagine I shall attempt to 
bring Sack before your mind's eye, he must be seen 
and heard ; there is an individuality, a something 
that belongs to him alone, that baffles description. 
He addressed me from the first moment as an inti- 
mate friend, and so instinctively did he divine our 
mutual inclinations, that we immediately took pos- 
session of a summer house, which promised a safe 
asylum from disturbance and intrusion ; and here, 
how much had he to ask and I to answer of Fanny ? 
I indulged him with the sight of your last letter, on 
which he rapturously exclaimed it was a perfect 
Sevigne ; he importuned for a copy, but, without 
your permission, I would not grant his request. 

Mr. Sack was accompanied by his wife and daugh- 
ter, and the island was graced by many other ladies, 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 45 

but to introduce them all would be too tedious. Ihave 
often thought, that the sweetest moment of a poet's 
triumph, is to find himself the object of an amiable 
female audience, by whom he is at once admired 
and caressed. It has sometimes fallen to my lot 
to read the passage of Lazarus and Cidli, to a circle 
of youthful maids, who admitted no other in- 
truder, and sweetly repaid me with their artless 
tears; in such moments how happy have I been ! and 
yet, oh! Fanny, how much more happy I might be! 
On the present occasion a different scene 
awaited me, in which I had to perform a more 
arduous part : I found Madame Sack had by some 
means obtained copies of all my odes, not except- 
ing even that which I supposed to be exclusively 
in Bodmer's possession ; and now, you anticipate 
what followed. — I was assailed with prayers and 
solicitations, and how was it possible to resist such 
importunity ? yet I yielded with reluctance, and 
Gleim ended the contest by reading the poems in 
question, whilst I hid myself behind the hoops and 
sunscreens : the reading having ceased, there fol- 
lowed such a torrent of questions ! and how many 
true things did I aver to which my auditors gave 
no belief ; but once I obtained implicit credit, 
when I exclaimed, — " Yet all this, and far more 
than this, deserves my Fanny ;" then rang the 
room with plaudits and acclamations, and the wo- 
men re-echoed, even with tears of enthusiasm, the 



46 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

praises of Fanny ; and as I gazed on their fine 
eyes, which glistened with sensibility, methought 
I was transported to Elysium ! That night, for I 
must now glance rapidly over inferior things, that 
night I stole to the garden, to muse and meditate 
on Fanny. 

It was a delicious heavenly hour, and fervent 
was the prayer I offered for her who is the 
supreme object of my existence ; it is surely im- 
possible that such an invincible impulse of affec- 
tion, such unmeasured, eternal, love, should have 
been given in vain ; the sacred conviction sunk in 
my heart, and methought I received the aspirations, 
not only of hope, but immortality. 

llth July. 

I must now briefly relate to you something of 
Mr. Sack. During our first interview, he said tq 
me, " let me whisper in your ear; you have a 
vocation from Providence of more than ordinary 
importance, a vocation to write the Messiah, and 
every effort should be directed to the accomplish- 
ment of that one object. The Abbot of Jerusalem 
would attach you to his society, and deserves to 
do so, but that would not be placing you in your 
proper sphere; and if hp really merit the opinion 
I am disposed to entertain of his principles, he 
will readily sacrifice his present gratification to the 
superior pleasure of seeing your work completed. 
I have in embryo a plan to enable you to spend 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 47 

two years in Berlin, perfectly at your ease, and 
perfectly master of your time. The particulars of 
this plan I hope in a few weeks to transmit to you 
at Zurich. Whatever be your fortune, it is ob- 
vious that Berlin is the only place for you, and if 
you wish to enjoy the society of your friend, suffer 
me to assure you that Berlin is equally the place 
for him."* 

Between this conversation and our separation, 
many little pleasant things occurred ; but I must 
not take your permission to write long letters in 
too unqualified a sense, and will not run the risk 
of fatiguing you by the repetition. 

Five o'clock was the time fixed for our depar- 
ture. In the morning, Sack would have me sit 
for my picture ; and all the women, except Miss 
Sack, exclaimed, " It was taken to the life." In 
gratitude for this agreeable declaration, I gave 
each of them a kiss, and even Miss Sack, at length 
retracted her opinion. It was with regret we 
thought of parting; but this inevitable moment 
arrived. After a reluctant farewell, we had to 

* It does not appear that any thing resulted from these va- 
rious plans of Mr. Sack to Klopstock's advantage, and the friend 
alluded to could not be Kleist, who was at Potsdam, and an 
officer in the Prussian service, but was probably Schmidt. Miss 
Sack is mentioned in Richardson's Correspondence by Mr. Reich 
as a woman of uncommon talents. 



48 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS, 

pass the night at the mansion of a portly country 
gentleman, who tired us heartily with his long 
stories. The next morning I was joined by Sulzer 
and his two Swiss companions. How happy, how 
supremely happy could you have made me, had I 
been permitted to greet a letter from Langesalze ; 
but I have long been accustomed to ask that for 
which I dare not hope. 



LETTER VI. 

Schmidt to Gleim. 

Langesalze, July, 1750. 
My sister is at length nearly restored to health, 
and but for pale haggard looks and feeble limbs, 
would retain no traces of her recent indisposition. 
I assure you, she has incurred a large debt to my 
shrewdness and sagacity, and certainly owes to me 
alone, the first symptom of recovery. It was I, 
who on the approaching paroxysm of fever, coun- 
selled her to leave her bed, and (weather permit- 
ting) to walk out for the benefit of air and exercise. 
To this prescription she meekly submitted, and 
leaning on my arm, persisted in the laudable ex- 
ertion till she sunk down exhausted with weakness 
and fatigue. You will imagine my trepidation at 
this unlooked for consequence j but the fever, like 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 49 

a generous foe, had too much consideration to put 
me to open shame on my first trial of medical skill, 
and was graciously pleased to go away. The 
panic I felt on the occasion, has however inspired 
me with abhorrence for death, whom I can now 
conceive to surpass in ugliness even your poetical 
description of his ghastly figure. Assuredly, my 
dear Gleim, the king of terrors must be a sorry 
wretch to have the heart to enlist against our poor 
afflicted human race. I am really vexed you 
should ever have pledged him to drink with you 
in brotherly fellowship, Churl that he is ! rather 
than so waste the precious wine, I would dash the 
bowl against his hideous visage ! Is it not cruel to 
sever youths and maidens at the moment when 
they would rush into each other's arms ? Is it not 
abominable to drag the poet from his pen at the 
crisis of inspiration, when concord is just esta» 
blished between sense and sound, and a thousand 
experiments rewarded with the discovery of a fe- 
licitous rhyme ? 

On observing what objects are selected by his 
malice, I am convinced that death has as little 
sense as feeling, and am amazed that any reason- 
able beings can wish for his society. May he 
but spare my friends ! You will not doubt you are 
included in this aspiration. Oh ! how I love you ! 
I have yet to see the man who in this respect 
could claim precedence of your Schmidt. 



50 &LOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

Journal of the Excursion made by Klopstock, Schuld- 
hess andSuher to Zurich, addressed to Rabener, * ( 1 ) 
Gellerty Rothe, at Leipsic ; to Cramer (£) and his 
wife, and Schlegel, at Crellwiiz; to the Abbot of 
Jerusalem at Brunswick ; to Schmidt and Fanny 
at Langesalze ; to Gleim at Halberstadt ; to 
Gesike(3) and Olde in Hamburgh ; to Bachmann 
and the other Friends near Magdeburg. 

Quedlinburg, July 12th, 1727. 

My dear Friends, 

To-morrow morning, accompanied by Sulzer 
and Schuldhess, I shall commence my journey to 
Zurich and Bodmer. It forms no part of our plan 
to waste much time on the castles we might visit 
in the way, and I am resolved to avoid as much 
as possible the haunts of men, and to dedicate all 
my thoughts to my absent friends. It is my inten- 
tion to commit to paper whatever occurs to my 
mind, and I shall impose on Schuldhess and Sul- 
zer the same task ; but be it remembered, that the 
suggestion was wholly mine. I am too proud of 
an invention, inspired by friendship, to leave it 
doubtful who is the author. I will soon write to 

you again. 

Kloestock. 

* Schuldhess was a native of Zurich, and died in 1! 
pastor of Monchalthorf in Switzerland. He had been a dilig* 
translator of the Gieek classics, and was well known to the li v 
terary club in Berlin. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 51 

Gleim to the Travellers. 

I am happy that it falls to me alone to reply to 
you in the name of so many honourable friends, and 
to assure you of our united wishes for your safe 
and pleasant journey. But I can also promise that 
we shall in spirit attend you over hill and vale to 
whatever region heaven may conduct your steps. 

To you, my dearest Klopstock, I must observe, 
you have a vocation I am tempted to envy. You 
are our Envoy to the Swiss — to the nation we love 
and venerate, and with whom we form a kindred 
people. With regard to your journal, we shall be 
most anxious to discover in it a series of illustrious 
names, and if you but introduce us to such as have 
done honour to their age and country, we shall wil- 
lingly allow you to pass over in silence the pomp 
of the rich and the palaces of the great. Would 
I too had the privilege to offer with you my homage 
to Bodmer. 

Gleim. 
JOURNAL. 

Sulzer writes. 
I am too much agitated by tumultuous feelings 
to have any ability for description. Such is my 
distraction, I should be utterly unable to decide 
whether I most love the country I am to leave, or 
that to which I shall so soon approach. I have in 

E 2 



5$ KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

each friends who suspend the balance; I am one 
moment tempted to wish myself back, and the 
next ready to repine that the space is not anni- 
hilated between us. One thing alone is certain, 
that in my present state I am wholly incapacitated 
for making observations on our journey. I should, 
indeed, have done well not to take up the pen, for 
I am absolutely writing I know not what, with my 
thoughts confused and bewildered as in a dream. 

Schuldhess writes. 

The moment is at length arrived when I shall 
have to retrace in memory the country to which I 
was so anxious to be introduced, and in which I 
have discovered so much to excite esteem and ad- 
miration. For my journey hither I have been am- 
ply recompenced, since it has extended my ac- 
quaintance with the great and good, and augment- 
ed the respect I was before disposed to cherish for 
men so worthy to inspire homage. I would fain 
hope the example of Klopstock may attract imi- 
tators, and that he will not prove the first and last 
of his countrymen to allow Bodmer and the Swiss 
the satisfaction of seeing the genius they have al- 
ready learnt to love. This pleasing persuasion 
redoubles my delight, and to such a state of com- 
placency am I now soothed, as to feel disposed to 
smile at the disasters incident to travellers, and to 
have lost all power to be angry. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 55 

Of this fact you will not doubt when I tell you, 
that nobody scolds the postillion for driving all 
round the district, because the first toll-gate hap- 
pened not to be open ; nobody is impatient, though 
we have consumed two hours in staring for Klop- 
stock's house, without once observing the tall stee- 
ple that had been so long our beacon on the road. 

Klopstock writes. 

Gonzenhausen, 13th July. 

We set off this morning, silent and dejected, 
and in no humour to anticipate brilliant adven- 
tures ; but our taciturnity soon yielded to a risible 
impression, for suddenly the carriage stopt, and 
Sulzer's servant, who has imbibed his master's re- 
lish for natural history, jumped from the coach- 
box, opened the coach door, and half thrusting 
himself in, enquired with a look full of importance, 
" if the worm he had just picked up was good." 

We passed through a village, whose inhabitants 
certainly merit the appellation of sages. The 
church-yard was planted with rose trees ; we 
had an inclination to drink a bottle of wine on 
those blooming graves, and the good people 
brought us so large a glass, that they seemed to 
know intuitively we were not water drinkers. 
After this potent libation, how lovely appeared to 
us the long track of woods through which we had 

e3 



54 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

passed, and which fancy changed to delicious 
groves. 

Sulzer "writes. 

There remains to record of this day's peregrina- 
tion something besides the discovery of the worm, 
which has produced so strong an impression on our 
poet's fancy. 

Yesterday we travelled from two in the morning 
till five in the afternoon, through the worst of all 
possible roads, without rinding aught to allay thirst 
or hunger. Thus travel poets and scholars. This 
extraordinary abstinence very nearly introduced 
the apple of discord. We had set our hearts on 
seeing Gleim's native place, Elmsleben, but our 
view was obstructed by the tall trees planted in the 
vicinage. We have, however, decreed that he 
shall in future be called the Swan of the Selke.* 
Hunger will not allow me to write another line. 
May Providence take better care of our welfare 
for the future, or bestow on us the ethereal frames 
of Cherubim and Seraphim. 

Klopstock writes. 

These gentlemen talk of nothing but eating ; 
Sulzer especially is so much absorbed in the pur- 
suit, as to affect to be quite a novice in the art of 

* The Selke, an inconsiderable river in the district of Halber- 
itadt. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS TRIENDS. 55 

drinking ; but I recollect that one of the fair resi- 
dents of the happy island, a lovely girl, presented 
him with a bottle of Hermitage, which he emptied 
as a libation on the rose-decked church-yard. But 
not one syllable of this does he mention ; observe 
too, he had in common w r ith us, a glimpse of poor 
Gleim's birth place, which lies at the foot of a 
Saxon Alps, and really is a very pretty little hamlet. 

From Klopstock to Fanny and Schmidt. 

Erfurt, 14th, ten o'clock. 

I arrived this morning within a few miles of 
your residence. I gazed on the horizon that 
bounded your view. I beheld the same clouds — 
how wdllingly would I have approached your ha- 
bitation. But Sulzer, who for the present is the 
lord of my destiny, would allow me but two hours 
leave of absence. Such a meeting would only be 
a prolonged parting. I did not fail to remember 
you in my orisons, and many were the tender 
aspirations I breathed towards your dwelling. Did 
the winds bear them to you, or were they all w T afted 
to the Gods ? Methinks a soft mysterious breeze 
must at least have whispered our approach. Go, 
Fanny, if you listened to the murmur — go once 
more crown the Apollo in the garden of your friend 
Weiss, and whilst you are performing that sacred 
office, I will in fancy gaze on the terrace from 

e 4> 



56 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

whence but two years before, I saw with you the 
procession of the Saint, whilst you stood under the 
beautiful hawthorn, whose luxuriant blossoms dif- 
fused ineffable fragrance. 

Sulzer mites. 

A false accusation on my honour — willingly would 
I have prolonged my absence another day, from 
my native country and nearest friends, to have 
had the privilege of seeing Schmidt, and still more 
to have seen his sister, so well known as the soul- 
subduing maid ; but Klopstock was not to be sa- 
tisfied with less than two days, and he even inti- 
mated, that when properly indulged, he might be 
tempted to requite the indulgence by desertion. 
To say the truth, he was so far from imitating 
the firmness of Ulysses, that he would neither shut 
himself into our carriage, nor allow us to bind 
him. For my own exculpation, I must however 
add, that after he had remained a full half hour in 
deep cogitation, he suddenly started, like one 
roused from a dream, and exclaimed in a tender, 
plaintive voice, " No, not now thither." So Cesar 
looked when he cried, " Jacta est Alea j*' with 
this trifling difference, however, that Cesar, in 
trials of the heart, was no Klopstock. 

Though not permitted to meet you, we seemed 
to have a lively impression of all your movements. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 57 

Now she is risen — said we. Yes — by this time 
Schmidt has taken his accustomed place, and is 
reading to his sister. We are interrupted. 

Klopstock wtites. 

15th, Radach, two miles from Coburgh, 
four in the afternoon. 

No one thinks of writing but myself. I may well 
claim the merit of having invented this friendly art 
of journalizing, since I alone, tired as I must be, 
am unremitted in exertions for its preservation. 

How gladly, in the short interval allotted to 
me, would I communicate some of those thoughts 
with which I marked my respective friends on 
passing through the poetical region we have just 
quitted. In our road from Armstadt, behind 
Erfurt, we constantly beheld forests of pine and 
fir, sweetly intermingled with Elysian vallies. Our 
Swiss companions, in an ecstacy of delight, be- 
stowed on these delightful regions the beloved 
name of Alps ; and on our happening to halt in 
the vale to take some milk from a hospitable shep- 
herdess, actually fancied themselves restored to 
the land of their fathers. This kind hearted cot- 
tager had a lonely dwelling at the foot of a wooded 
cliff; and there all her children, a troop of wild 
laughing boys and girls, were gaily assembled. I 
am too much tired to pursue my description of the 



58 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

scene, but pledge myself at some future time to 
name the place where, gazing on a distant emi- 
nence, which appeared under a canopy of crimson 
clouds, whose glowing tints were reflected on the 
sable fir wood, I beheld the visions of my dearest 
friends. 

Schuldhess writes. 

I am as much exhausted as Klop stock can be, 
and with more reason, not having indulged in the 
same repose ; and yet I engage to write more than 
he has done. Apropos of his inordinate propen- 
sity to sleep, (which appears to me to argue some- 
thing preternatural,) of the four and twenty hours 
which compose the day in our latitudes, he dozes 
sixteen and a half! I suspect, indeed, this apparent 
drowsiness is but the disguise for waking dreams, and 
that when he shuts his eyes, and drops his head on 
one shoulder, it is purely to have the satisfaction 
of brooding on his own thoughts without inter- 
ruption. Oh ! thoughts Klopstockean, why are 
ye not audible ? But enough of complaint, proceed 
we on our journey. 

Since we left Erfurt, which was yesterday at 
noon, we have had a constant succession of hills 
and valiies, and with these were too much trans- 
ported to have leisure to reflect, that we were 
every moment on the very brink of destruction. 
Often were we in jeopardy from the water which 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 59 

rushed into our carriage, and often were we on 
the edge of a precipice, where a single false step 
in our horses must inevitably have plunged us into 
the abyss beneath. That we so happily escaped, 
is perhaps owing to the interest you have taken 
in our preservation ; it was your prayers that pre- 
vailed — we are not so holy as to have obtained by 
our own merits such special favour and protection. 
Yet to the terrors of our situation we were scarcely 
sensible, so completely was the sense of danger, 
and every faculty absorbed in contemplating the in- 
comparable beauties of the surrounding scenery. 

How often did we wish you with us to partake 
our transports. I regretted your absence most 
at the mill, where seated on a wheelbarrow, w r e 
had such a banquet of sour milk, as neither Lu- 
cullus nor Cleopatra ever equalled : the milk was 
to our taste Nectar and Ambrosia, and our sub- 
lime bard sufficiently evinced that he was not in- 
capable of descending to terrestrial cares; he rinsed 
out the bowl with great glee, and in performing 
this office, discovered as much genius as he has 
shewn in the composition of his poems. Whilst 
we rested at this spot, we saw here and there, the 
inhabitants of our Saxon Arcadia busied in hay- 
making ; many loving couples were lightening each 
other's labours : the old basking in the sun, the 
young reposing in the shade : would we had but time 



60 KLOPSTOCK AND, HIS FRIENDS. 

to describe all we have thought and felt ; had you 
been with us, I should have urged with more zeal 
a proposal to purchase one of these delicious val- 
lies for our residence, and lay the foundations of 
a new world. Were this idea realized, we might 
certainly change the earth into a perfect paradise. 
From this slight sketch of our tour, you will not 
doubt, we have had much enjoyment since yester- 
day : but, were you in your turn to question those 
we have met on the road, you would certainly 
hear us described as poor bemazed travellers, who 
had lost their senses. Such at least was the im- 
pression left on those who beheld us in our equi- 
page during our late breakfast. To this breakfast 
appends a comic tale, of which nothing must be 
premised at present. The postillion blows his 
horn, and away for Coburg. 

Schuldhess "writes. 

Numburg, July 17th. 
Klopstock, exclusive of his poetical pretensions 
to the appellation, is become, in a peculiar optical 
sense, a seer. Through a smoaky window of the 
post house, he lately espied a sleeping maid at 
Baysdon, where we merely perceived a castle ; we 
discovered that the walls were mouldering in de- 
cay, the precise state in which, from accurate ob- 
servation, we afterwards ascertained they were. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 6l 

After all, it is, however, not very difficult for him 
to surpass two poor purblind mortals, who could 
not fall in love at first sight, without the aid of a 
telescope. 

A heavy shower of rain, gave us occasion yes* 
terday, at dinner, to speak of Gleim. It hap- 
pened that our inn was called, the Golden Swan, 
and there fell from the roof, a stream of rain- 
water, as broad as the Selke ; observe, this remark 
was made by Klopstock. 

We are about to pass through a place call Gon- 
zenhausen, where Marius, as Sulzer affirms, dis- 
covered the satellites of some planet, whose name 
escapes my memory ; on such a spot we certainly 
ought to develope some of the mysteries of nature. 

Klopstock writes. 

Sulzer and Schuldhess are going to procure me 
an introduction to a young lady artist, who paints 
flowers better than any other person in Germany ; 
I am delighted with the idea, that such a species 
of excellence should belong to an individual of 
the other sex ; it appears to me so happily appro- 
priate to Woman, that she should possess skill in 
pourtraying those delicate and beautiful objects of 
nature, which are fairer than Solomon in all his glory. 

I will now perform my promise of describing 
the scene from whence I beheld in beatific vision, 
the phantoms of my dear distant friends. It 



0*2 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

was from a wooded cliff that I perceived Schmidt 
standing by a young fir, on which he had inscribed 
nis name, not without the hope of attaining to coeval 
longevity ; (be it whispered, he seriously expects to 
survive a hundred years). I beheld his sister gliding 
on a crimson cloud refulgent with the setting sun, 
through a young plantation of beech-trees, till lost 
at length, in the misty shadows of the darker wood. 

Cramer and his consort next appeared, rapt in 
ecstacy, whilst listening to some heavenly voice 
that issued from a ridge of orient clouds, and whose 
strain was such as might have been breathed by 
some departed spirit, ere admitted to the commu- 
nion of immortal beings. 

I observed Gleim standing on the margin of a 
clear brook, and complaining with an air of lassi- 
tude and melancholy, that he had so long been 
separated from Kleist, 

It was in a most delicious valley that I descried 
Gartner and his wife reclining on the fresh green 
bank, and exchanging smiles of mutual love and 
felicity ; they were soon greeted by Gellert, whose 
looks were grave and frigid, whilst his soul over- 
flowed with the tenderest affections. 

Rabener sat smiling at the foot of a cliff, but 
could find no subject for ridicule in the simple 
peasants labouring in the valley — I then stole a 
transient glimpse of Ebert, who bounding from a 
hill, laid down his Pope and talked to himself of 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 63 

his absent friends. Hitherto, I had not beheld 
Kleist, the incomparable Kleist, when suddenly I 
perceived in the most shady spot, a man whose 
mien bespoke the philanthropist, and who having 
listened intensely to the music of the nightingale, 
raised his eyes, and gazing on a beauteous vision 
in the distant horizon, invoked the name of Doris, 

Hagedorn and Gesike, no less worthy than 
Hagedorn, were seen together, and supported be- 
tween them, I discerned the image of true happi- 
ness, whom they had rescued from the half virtuous, 
half witted crowd, who had presumed to claim 
acquaintance with the goddess. Olde was also 
with them, and with one indignant glance rebuked 
the boldest of those intruders that ventured to 
pursue their steps. 

I must now leave you, to pay my visit to the fair 
artist. 

Stilzer writes. 

Gonzenhausen, July 18, Six in the morning. 

I have once more the pleasure of conversing 
with you, a privilege of which I have lately been 
deprived by my worthy companions, who think 
proper to delegate to me the task of wrangling with 
innkeepers, and grumbling at postillions, in which 
honourable vocation, you will easily conceive I have 
little leisure left for writing. I am at this moment 
sitting opposite to Klopstock, who is sipping his 



64 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

coffee with as much glee as Anacreon or Hagedorri 
would quaff their wine. He flattered himself with 
the hope of commemorating his arrival by some 
brilliant discovery, but the fortunate moment is not 
yet arrived, and may perhaps be deferred till we 
have proceeded tw'o miles farther, when we shall 
have entered Swabia, the vestibule of Switzerland. 

But why so many anticipations of the future, when 
I have never adverted to the past ? Yesterday we 
spent several hours at Nurnburg, where it would 
have been easy to collect materials for a hundred 
letters, and lo we collect none — so nobly did we 
scorn to imitate the example of ordinary travellers, 
in admiring the curiosities of Nurnburg, a sin- 
gularity which will I trust exalt us to higher honours 
than if we had vied with Knysler himself in the 
minutiae of description. 

To preserve such sedate indifference for a scene 
where every body else is eager and inquisitive, 
is no small proof of intellectual superiority. Klop- 
stoek alone explored, (having set his heart on 
seeing some pretty girl,) but fate decreed against 
his wishes ; though, not finding his own eyes 
keen enough, he enlisted ours in his service, and 
we gave him a wink whenever a female coif ap- 
peared in sight — all in vain — he saw only com- 
mon human faces, not one angel among them. 
At this, our philanthropist became troubled in 
mind, and departed from Nurnburg, with the 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 65 

sorrowful persuasion, that it contains not a sin- 
gle joy. 

Last night was pre-eminently beautiful, and wor- 
thy to have succeeded the most glorious day : I 
kept my eyes fixed on the clear cloudless heaven, 
through which the moon glided in serene majesty : 
I imagined that some of my friends must be at- 
tracted by the magnificent object ; and that thus 
our thoughts might commingle together at the 
same moment ; I was still indulging those delici- 
ous reflections, when lo ! a crash occasioned by the 
breaking of one of our wheels aroused my slum- 
bering companions, and obliged me to invoke hu- 
man aid instead of pursuing any heavenly medi- 
tations. 

I would fain furnish some augmentation to the 
honours of this town already rendered famous by 
the discovery of Jupiter's satellites. 

Oh thou, whosoever thou mayest be, who dost 
preside at the birth of discovery, thou who art 
assuredly a heavenly muse attracted to this ter- 
restrial sphere, inspirit my efforts, aid me with 
thy influence at this important moment! 

But how arduous is the effort to produce no- 
velty ! Solomon said, long ago, there is nothing new 
tinder the sun, and what shall be attempted by a 
wretched traveller who has not slept and is half 
starved, and in addition to this, has his head com- 

F 






66 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

pletely occupied in repairing the mischief of a 
broken wheel ? 

From Klopstoch 

We were disappointed in our expectations of 
seeing the fair artist; she had taken a walk to 
collect flowers to supply future studies for her 
pencil. We saw however her sister, who shewed 
me some of her performances, beautiful roses so 
red, so fresh, they wanted only fragrance. 

This girl though grave and reserved had pierc- 
ing eyes which promised something brilliant. She 
is herself an artist, and only inferior to her sister. 
The father shewed us his cabinet of natural his- 
tory, where Sulzer looked at nothing but shells, 
and I saw only pictures. I was however the more 
diligent of the two, in gratifying my curiosity ; 
and contrived to draw the maid aside, with the 
hopes of seeing her intelligent eyes lighted up in 
conversation ; but no — the fair damsel from time 
to time dropt me a low Nurnburg curtsy, and 
the eyes were just as before. 

From Sulzer. 

Ulna, 15th July, noon. 

People in general have the laudable custom of 
eating at this hour 5 we have no resource but writ- 
ing to dissipate our chagrin on being compelled to 



KJ.OPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. &J 

depart from the venerable example of our fore- 
fathers, 

I am tempted to communicate the honourable 
distinction I lately acquired, at Nordlingen. The 
post-master at that town, an old shrewd fellow 
who has pondered deeply on the momentous events 
which have taken place in Europe, took occasion 
during our stay to launch out on many profound 
subjects ; but it was to me alone that his obser- 
vations were addressed. " Those other gentlemen" 
said he, winking on my companions, " are somewhat 
too young to discuss such matters, but you, sir, are 
able to comprehend them" 

Since these fatal words my colleagues have 
thought proper to impose on me the most humi- 
liating hardships by way of retaliation. Not a me- 
nial office but falls to my lot. I have not only to 
scold, bawl and cater for them, but even to see the 
wheels greased for our journey ; so goes desert ; 
pity my distress; it was surely not my fault if the 
sage gave me credit for having more wisdom than 
those gentlemen. 

Klopstock writes. 

Erlangen, six miles from Vim. 

When I reached this place I was smothered with 
dust, exhausted with fatigue, and still more com- 
pletely out of tmmour with the very worst roads 

f2 



68 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 



we had hitherto encountered ; yet, at the thoughts 
of writing to you, I find my spirits renovated, 
and my chearfulness restored. 

Notwithstanding the horrors of our late route, 
we have enjoyed the beauty of the scenery, and I 
am reconciled to Suabia, particularly since I disco- 
vered in a village we reached at noon, that its 
natives sometimes worship pleasure. Not such 
indeed as is the goddess of nobler minds, but yet 
something that accords with her communion. 

It is possible the good people here may speak the 
Saxon language in all its purity, but this is certain, 
I have not hitherto exchanged with them a sylla- 
ble. The costume of the women appears to me 
singularly grotesque ; they have a head dress, 
three points of which are brought down low and 
pointing on the forehead ; those who are tenacious 
of their pretensions to fashion, bring the coif over 
the eyes, scarcely leaving the eyelid visible. In 
addition to this, I have observed something pendant 
like an ear-ring, and great was my commiseration 
for a pretty blue eyed girl who was thus cruelly 
disfigured. 

Sulzer writes. 

I am sorry for Klopstock's unfavourable im- 
pression of the Suabian females, since the same 
objection will apply to my own countrywomen the 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 69 

Swiss. With their dress indeed he has no occa- 
sion to be displeased, unless he should see them in 
their church-going habit, on which occasion the 
Gothic style is religiously preserved ; when I told 
him of the broad band fastened to the top of the 
head which completely invests the neck, cheeks 
and chin, he objected that it might easily be slip- 
ped over the lips at the very moment the lover was 
expecting to steal a kiss, and very seriously asked if 
they always wore this repulsive ornament? it 
might perhaps have been so in the days of 
yore, but happily for us, the tyranny is now ex- 
ploded. 

I am interrupted every moment, and shall cer- 
tainly get nothing to eat if I do not lay down the 
pen, Klopstock has the conscience to insist that I 
shall scold for my comrades during the journey ; 
well ! I shall at least have the comfort to praise one 
thing ; for many years have I not tasted such good 
wholesome bread as we met with in Suabia. By 
this alone, might we know we were approaching 
Switzerland ; from that point the improvement 
became perceptible. Every thing is better here 
than in Franconia, nature and man participate in 
the amelioration. 

But I am now suffering so severely from the 
jolts of yesterday, that I can scarcely sit to hold 

f3 



70 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

the pen — farewell then, till we shall have reached 
the fields of peace and freedom, which we hope to 
do to-morrow evening. 

Klopstock writes. 

Messkirchen, six miles this side of Scaffhatfsen, 
July 20th, 2 o'clock. 

It was from an eminence within a mile of this spot, 
that the Swiss gentlemen first descried two of the 
Alps, at which they were thrown into transports, 
such as sailors express on the first sight of land ; 
nothing could be grander than the abrupt appear- 
ance of those Appenzelles glittering like silvery 
clouds, yet evidently more than clouds in the 
distant horizon. I at first pretended to fancy 
they were purely aerial mists, but I did this to 
revenge the slights they had offered to our own 
Suabia, whose pine-crowned cliffs and delicious 
vallies were all disparaged at the mention of their 
Alps. 

I shall ere long, have a nearer view of these stu- 
pendous summits ; I shall soon commune with the 
virtuous men who dwell in the vales beneath > I 
hail you even here, my amiable unseen friends ; 
you whom I hasten to meet under the length- 
ening shadows cast from every cloud-capt moun- 
tain. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 71 

In continuation, 

Schaffhausen, 21, 8 in the morning. 

We were yesterday present at a wedding festival 
and saw the Suabian damsels dance, and caroused 
with the swains till we were almost too merry. 
We again beheld the Alps more distinctly than 
before, the full moon accompanied us the whole 
night through a fine rich sylvan country. 

We have this morning often had a glimpse of 
the Rhine as it flows softly through the woods. 
The vine-covered hills encircle the town, and 
you may imagine they were not viewed with in- 
difference by those who know the joys of wine. 
On the bridge of the Rhine we descried with rap- 
ture this land of promise. We have crossed the 
bridge and are now hastening to see the falls of 
the Rhine. I have pledged myself to the nymphs 
of that majestic river to drink wine on their banks, 
and shall not fail to perform the libation. 

The Falls of the Rhine: 

What a sublime image of the creation does this 
cataract present! all powers of description are 
here baffled, such an object can only be seen, 
and heard and contemplated. 

Hail, oh! thou magnificent stream now thunder- 
ing from the heights above, and thou who hast 
caused the stream to pour forth that awful sound, 

f4 



7 C 2 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

oh creator, be thou thrice blest, thrice hallowed ! 
Here, stretched on this verdant terrace, in sight of 
the stupendous torrent, in the sound of its rush- 
ing waters, I salute you all, my near and distant 
friends. 

Above all, I salute thee, thou land of heroes, 
on whose holy earth I shall soon imprint my steps ! 
oh that I could gather to this spot all the objects 
of my affection, that I could unite them to enjoy 
with me these miracles of nature ! on this spot 
would I spend my days and close my eyes, for 
it is lovely ! 

I have no words by which to paint my feel- 
ings, I can only think of the friends who are ab- 
sent y I can form but the wish to draw them all 
into one circle, and to dwell with them here 
for ever, 

Klopstock to Bodmer. 

Bilach., 4 o'clock. 

Arrived at length in your vicinity, I have no 
motive for writing, but the necessity of beguiling 
my impatience during the interval that must yet 
elapse before we can have any personal communi- 
cation. I am gratified by having an opportunity 
to mention previous to our interview, that I ob- 
served in this neighbourhood a scene correspond- 
ing in features with the country in which I in* 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 73 

dulged my fancy with the idea that I beheld the 
phantoms of my absent friends. I had begun a 
sketch of this fantastic vision at Nurnburg, but 
was interrupted before I could finish it. I am 
now glad that this happened, since it will be so 
pleasing to talk to you of all I should otherwise 
have written — and the Abbot of Jerusalem ap- 
peared to me in heavenly glory ; when we meet, 
I pledge myself to prove to you that these two 
illustrious men have scarcely an equal. 

From the same. 

Zurich , July 25. 

I have already spent here several days, and 
have at length had the delight to behold, for the 
first time in my life, that most respected man, 
before whose image there was always a cloud in- 
terposed, when I contemplated him as an unknown 
incomparable friend whom I should never meet 
face to face in this world. 

Since my arrival, I have been constantly in 
the full tide of enjoyment ; what happiness to 
become acquainted with so many noble minded 
men, and to believe that they all regard me with 
affection ! nor, let me forget the minor pleasures 
that are offered to my gratification, in the beau- 
tiful scenery to whose charms I .am so feelingly 
alive, the congenial spirit that prevails in society, 



74 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FEIENDS. 

the gaiety so sweetly mingled with serenity — that 
simplicity of manners — that unreserved frankness 
in conversation. 

When I think of these, and of all the happi- 
ness I have already tasted, and of all that 
awaits me in anticipation, my soul overflows 
with gratitude, and I surrender every feeling 
to the consciousness of delight ; yet is all this 
endeared to me by the conviction that you, my 
dear compatriots, and you, my sweet female 
friends, feel with me and fully share in all my 
emotions. 

Sulzer and Schuldhess are gone to Winterthuiv 
I am soon to join a party who are to make an ex- 
cursion thither and attend them back to Zurich. 
We shall embrace that opportunity to sail on the 
Zuydersee, and to visit Riggi, one of the snowy 
mountains, on whose summit we shall tower above 
the clouds, and hear the tempests thunder at our 
feet. 

The letters we have sent you are the genuine 
letters of friendship, they are intended for your 
participation, and if in reading them, you recol- 
lect under what circumstances they were writ- 
ten, you will not fail to find excuses for their 
defects and to allow them every claim on your in- 
dulgence. Klopstock. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 75 

LETTER X. 

Klopstock to Schmidt. 

Winterthur, Thursday. 

I am now sojourning here with Sulzer and 
Schuldhess, on a visit to Waser and Runzli ; the 
two former are to accompany me back to Zurich. 
Bodmer is also of our party, but I steal from them 
all an early morning hour to write to you* 

I could find much to communicate, but for the 
present will confine myself to our excursion on the 
Zuyder, with which I was highly gratified. I 
know not indeed when I have enjoyed such a suc- 
cession of lively natural pleasures, as this de- 
licious day afforded. The party, sixteen in number, 
was composed of persons of both sexes ; an unusu- 
al circumstance, since it is here customary for 
the young ladies to exchange visits with each 
other, but not to enter into general society. I 
felt it as no trifling compliment, that on my ac- 
count this custom was overruled, and such an 
agreeable addition to the party admitted. 

We embarked at five in the morning, (in the 
largest vessel the pleasure afforded) on the lake, 
whose clear green expanse presents a surface smooth 
as glass, unruffled with a wave ; on each side rise 
sloping banks, fringed with vineyards, country 



76 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

villas and pleasure grounds often interposing be- 
tween them, whilst at every bend of the lake 
appears some Alpine summit which shuts in the 
horizon : all in all, I have certainly never beheld 
so lovely a landscape. 

We had proceeded during one hour, when we 
landed to breakfast at a villa close to the water's 
edge ; here the company divided into smaller co- 
teries, who thus came insensibly to enjoy the pri- 
vilege of social intercourse. Hirzel's wife, a 
young woman, with speaking blue eyes, who sings 
Haller's Doris with incomparable pathos, was the 
queen of the party, and I of course as occupy- 
ing the post of honour was expected to be her loyal 
knight. Unfortunately for the credit of my fide- 
lity, there was in our party a Miss Schinz, (the sis- 
ter of a very agreeable young man who was also 
present) a black eyed girl, who was the youngest 
and the prettiest of the group : at the first glance 
my heart beat with emotion, for I saw in her the 
exact counterpart of the girl who in her thirteenth 
year, had pledged herself to be mine. It is not 
necessary to relate to you this story, though to say 
the truth, I told the tale, and much more than I 
would now be at the trouble to repeat to my new 
little friend, who listening with the guileless inno* 
cence of seventeen, (yet half afraid to listen) trem* 
bling to be thus addressed on a subject so r*ew to 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 77 

her bashful inexperience — above all, to be thus 
addressed by me — at first cast down her lovely 
black eyes, with the sweetest and most touching 
expression of reverence, and then kindling with 
enthusiasm, unexpectedly gave utterance to some 
lofty sentiments, and at length in an attitude of 
impassioned devotion, exclaimed, " you may ima- 
" gine how highly I revere the bard by whom I 
" was first taught to form just conceptions of the 
" Deity!" 

At noon we landed at another villa near Zu- 
rich ; we returned to our bark and were again 
rowed on the lake till we came to a beautiful lit- 
tle island covered with wood, where we made our 
longest station, and in the evening partook of a 
grateful repast on the beach. On returning to the 
lake, I gave a flagrant proof of infidelity to Ma- 
dame Hirzel, by handing Miss Schinz instead of 
her to the boat ; we continued repeatedly to land 
on the coast and to enjoy the beauty of a serene 
evening. Mad. Muralt of the family so celebrated 
by that name, is the next lady under whose aus- 
pices I shall be admitted to a female party. 

I have often read to the damsels here your 
Apotheosis, and, as you may easily imagine, they 
are all impatient to hear more of your verses. 
Send me what you please, the girls like you next 
to me ; remember who has made them do so. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS* 

LETTER XL 

Schmidt to Klopstock. 



Langesalze. 



I am angry with you, angry in good earnest ; 
how dare you distrust my affection, atheist j shall 
nothing be sacred enough to defy your calumny ? 
It is truly a pretty letter I have received from you,* 

To announce to a man like me, a man so guile- 
less, so susceptible, so easily depressed, that a 
certain agreeable party had enjoyed pleasure in 
my absence, nay evidently, in consequence of my 
absence — it is cruel, abominable, unpardonable. 
Pray bear in mind this transgression, when from 
your own wicked suggestions, you venture to re- 
proach me with having ceased to love you ; my 
attachment is, indeed, rather to be considered as 
a habit rooted in my nature than an affection to be 
traced in remembrance, an,d in reality is a tru- 
ism as little to be controverted as that I have felt 
the pangs of love, or you the inspiration of the 
muses. Compose yourself on this subject, my lit- 
tle Klopstock ; I am bound to you by a thousand 
ties ' ? to say nothing of the rest, observe how much 



* It does not appear to which of Klopstock's letters this 
could have been an answer. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 79 

my pride is interested in the preservation of our uni- 
on. Has not the fame of our mutual friendship 
gone through the ten circles of Germany ? are we 
not likely to become as proverbial as the fabulous 
Pylades, and his equally true Orestes ? or to draw 
a parallel more to my taste, shall we not vie with 
Nisus and Euryalus ? Is not the description of the 
latter enchanting ? 

" Euryalus forma insignis, viridique juvcnta.'* 
Euryalus in his first blooming years. 

I leave you to make your choice between the 
names of these two heroes ; only this I know, that 
I can never be identified with the elegant Nisus. 

My sister is at present somewhat indisposed. — 
A-propos, we were lately speaking of you , upon 
which occasion my mother as usual pronounced 
some pithy axiom of prudence on matrimony, 
and lo, tears came into my sister's eyes — what 
say you to this, Klopstock ? 



LETTER XII. 

Schmidt to Gleim, 

Langesalze, August 14. 

Whether to suppose it is your General chapter, 
or that you have fallen in love, I know not, but 



80 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

take it for granted that one or the other of 
these important events must have occurred to 
prevent your writing, for you surely have not 
now to learn, that your letters form the best if 
not the only solace of my solitude. Of your, so- 
litude ! I hear you exclaim; what, surrounded as 
you are, by female friends, will you venture to 
complain of solitude ? yes, my dear friend, your 
conclusion is perfectly natural, and yet, true it is, 
that no Anchoret, not even excepting brother Phi- 
lip in la Fontaine, who occupies a dreary cell, 
has more lonely hours than myself. The girls 
to whom I have daily access are all destitute of 
attractions to win my heart, they are easily known 
and might perhaps be too easily won. Were I to 
select an object, I should have like Pygmalion to 
implore the gods to animate the statue, before 
my vows could be accomplished. 

I have already confessed to you, that in my 
feelings for the sex, i observe no medium, and 
must either love or hate with vehemence ; to 
escape from uncompanionable society I should 
readily take refuge in solitude, and to this indeed 
I am now so much accustomed, that it is rather to 
be classed with my duties than my pleasures ; 
I have no longer the same delight in taking a 
lonely walk or seeking a favourite retirement to 
indulge in poetical meditation. Solitude is im- 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS t 81 

posed as a daily regimen, and obviously ceases to 
be a luxury. 

No, I have no resources but in my sister, and 
my correspondents ; with regard to the first, you 
must be sensible that we lose with a sister many of 
those subjects of conversation we enjoy with a 
male friend, or with any ether individual of the 
softer sex. I cannot always read, and for letterr 
writing I lose my relish, because I am constantly 
left without a partner in the correspondence ; 
there are moments when a single line from your 
pen would operate on my spirits like the Deus ex 
Machina,— oh ! why will you deny yourself the 
pleasure of working a miracle for your friend ? 

Consider not this, my dear Gleim, as the lan- 
guage of recrimination or reproach. I am per- 
fectly aware you cannot always discharge yourself 
from business, and that six letters from me would 
but balance one from you. I believe you would 
smile to see me on a post day, at the window, 
standing with eyes sparkling with impatience, 
wistfully looking for the dear expected letter, like 
the matron in Horace, 

" Votis omnibus que et precibus voco, 

" Curvo nee moveo littore lumina." 
<c Anxious she listens to the roar 
" Of winds that loudly sweep the sky, 
" Nor fearful from the winding shore, 
f* Can ever turn her longing eye." Francis's HoiAes. 

G 



&& KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

You have undoubtedly heard that Klopstock is 
invited to Copenhagen, by the King of Denmark, 
who offers him a premium of four hundred dollars, 
a liberality for which he is indebted to Count Bern- 
storff. I partake your satisfaction on this occa- 
sion, yet how is it embittered by the reflection 
that it must be purchased by Klopstock' s absence- 
even this unwelcome conviction however, did not 
prevent my pouring out libations to his honour and 
prosperity, till my head at least was light if my 
heart was heavy. 

I yesterday received a letter from Zurich, which 
I transmit for your perusal. — Klopstock is enjoy- 
ing himself like a youth, and probably casts but 
few looks of regret to our side of the Alps ; he 
is every where courted and caressed, the girls 
consider him as a prophet sent from heaven* 
and he attracts as many glances as Mahomet's 
tomb at Medina. If he was disposed to introduce 
a sect, all the female, world would be proselyted 
to his doctrine. 

What will you say to the shy little Schinz and 
of her interesting timid attitude, when addressed 
by Klopstock, with his half spiritual, half friendly 
gallantry ? 

I have a lively image of her in my mind's eye, 

iC Essa inchinollo riverente, et poi, 
u Vergogno sctta non facea parola." 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 88 

What is become of that son of the Gods, 
Kleist? Where is Ramler? Above all, where are 
you ? 



LETTER XIII. 

Klopsiock, the Father, to Gleim. 

Quedlinburgh, September 6. 

Yes, I consent, that my beloved Frederic shall 
go whither the voice of God directs him. Not that 
it costs me but little to endure the separation, nor 
that I am disposed to contemplate through a mag- 
nifying glass, the first indications of good fortune. 
But I was struck with those words in Count Bem- 
storffs letter, intimating that this was only the 
earnest of future favour. 

By what means has the cordial good will, and the 
efforts, by which it is manifested, been awakened 
in the north-west ? The sons of song live not on 
pure air. My son has still many difficulties to 
overcome in the completion of his work. In 
future, he must chuse between God and man, and 
either do violence to his own conscience, or 
openly and manfully pronounce judgment against 
those scoffers who will not perceive the necessity 
of a mediator, and consequently refuse the honour 
due to his name. 

g2 



8* KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

But how many are there who have formed 
on this awful subject the most vague and childish, 
and even idiotic conceptions ? and how therefore 
does it behove him to treat it with all the reve- 
rence suitable to its sacred character.* 



LETTER XIV. 

Klopstock to Fanny. 

Zurich, September 10. 

You no longer write, my beloved cousin ; you ap- 
pear to have completely forgotten me. Among 
the various pleasures that are here presented to 
my acceptance, I am often at a loss to make my 
choice j but how infinitely could you increase my 
capacities for enjoyment ; how easily might you 
transmit one little letter, and with it the only pass- 
port I ask for happiness. If you persist in silence 
I must lose my relish, even of the blessings 
showered on my existence. 

Independent of the pleasures arising from fine 
scenery and select society, excursions on the 
lake, and rambles to the mountains, I have, since 
my arrival, received satisfaction from circum- 

* The English reader should be apprized that the elder Klop- 
stock's letters could not be divested of their native quaintness. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 85 

stances, to which I will not suspect you can be 
wholly indifferent. 

I have acquired two new friends in the King of 
Denmark and a young merchant ; the former pro- 
mises me a yearly pension of four hundred dollars 
to finish the Messiah, a liberality for which I am 
solely indebted to two of his ministers, who are 
courtiers of no common cast, the Baron Berns- 
torff and the Count Moltka. 

It appears probable that this salary may be in- 
creased, and that I shall not be required to fix my 
residence in Copenhagen ; how happy should I 
feel in being thus enabled to finish the Messiah at 
my leisure, if I was not (as you too well know) so 
unhappy in love ! 

You may perhaps have some curiosity to know 
my other friend, the merchant. He had, some years 
ago, the ingenuity to discover a new art of paint- 
ing on white satin, an invention which had long 
been an object of research to the French and Eng- 
lish manufacturers. The colours are so beautiful, 
that at the first glance tjie specimens are com- 
monly mistaken for painting ; there are so many nice 
processes, included in the art, and so many subdi- 
visions of labour among the various artizans, to 
whom the principle of their combination is un- 
known, that any surreptitious imitation is almost 
impossible, and there is consequently no reason to 

c3 



86 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

apprehend that the original inventor shall be sup* 
planted with the public. 

This ingenious man displays exquisite taste in 
designing the patterns, a task for which he is pe- 
culiarly qualified by his knowledge of the fine arts, 
which in imitation of the British manufacturers he 
has studied with diligence and success. Our 
noble-minded merchant insists that I shall share 
in all the emoluments of the speculation, without 
taking any part in his own personal labours. He 
only stipulates, that he shall, from time to time 
communicate to me the results of the new pro- 
cesses in which he is engaged, and refer to my 
opinion on the general management of the con- 
cern, a subject which requires no technical know-* 
ledge, and to which nothing more is requisite than 
a clear head and a prompt judgment. Yet, though 
profuse in his offers of service, so delicate, so dis- 
interested is his friendship, that he does not even 
hint at my becoming a resident of this place, and 
is too zealous for my best and noblest interests, to 
wish to influence my movements. 

I must certainly remain here this winter ; but 
in the spring I shall proceed to Copenhagen, to 
present to the King, the Messiah. Should the 
commercial enterprize fall to the ground, (a con- 
tingency on which we shall soon be able to pro- 
nounce decisively,) I shall then have made but 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 87 

a mercantile tour, and extended my acquaintance 
with men and nature. 

Of our speculation, we shall soon obtain satis- 
factory intelligence, as Spain alone might afford a 
large demand for the fabric. The Spanish traders 
would find it advantageous to export the silk to 
the colonies in South - America, where it cannot 
surely fail to become acceptable to Indian taste. 
At present the business is negociated through the 
medium of the Spanish envoy in Solothurn. You 
may perhaps have heard, that the reigning prince 
lias evinced peculiar solicitude for the encourage- 
ment of trade in his dominions, and as our plan is 
calculated to increase the consumption of Spanish 
silks, it is not improbable that his Majesty will be 
disposed to promote its success. 

I perceive I have rambled to various subjects and 
should have to begin again if I attempted to give 
you any details of the invention ; but as a speci- 
men would be infinitely more satisfactory, I shall 
hope to transmit to you some patterns by a mer- 
chant who is going to Leipsic. 

I know you will not rebuke my seriousness, if 
in retracing the events of my life I refer with grati- 
tude to the gracious protection of heaven ; were 
this but the history of some person you had never 
seen, you would rejoice in his success, and feel 
grateful for the blessings dispensed to a stranger. — 

g4 



88 KLOPSTOCK AND MIS FRIENDS. 

But, gracious providence, may I yet ask thee for 
the dearest gift that this or any world has to be^ 
stow? Unworthy as I am, may I but ask for 
Fanny to be mine ? 

I can say no more — my best, my ever beloved 
Schmidt. 

Think of all I have suffered, of the ardour of 
that passion, which has already lasted years, and 
which, if you still remain obdurate, must devote 
my future days to hopeless misery— ^remember me 
to your mother, so deservedly the object of your 
filial reverence, and to your brother, the wicked 
Schmidt, who has not yet favoured me with a single 
line, and to whom I have not now time to write* 



LETTER XV. 

Schmidt to Gkim. 

Langesalze: 

Am I then really separated from you, and is it 
only a dream that I fancy myself seated in your 
large hall and anxiously counting the moments, 
till (business dispatched) I shall see you descend 
from the august upper chamber, and once more 
be all mine own ? Your image still flits before mine 
eyes — I still gaze on that dear half-uoguish, hal£ 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 89 

tender smile, that blends with looks which so hap^ 
pily belong to Gleim. 

But hold, I must here make a pause, to intro- 
duce the verses* which accompany this letter — 
I had begun on another sheet, not intending that 
the comparison should exceed ten or twelve verses, 
but who can resist the current ? In the ardour of 
inspiration I missed my way* traversed, and re- 
traversed the subject, and lo ! before I ever dreamt 
of the thing, my new ode had overspread a whole 
sheet. 

" Omnia pontus erant, deerant quoque littora ponto." 

My favourite dream that I am at Halberstadt, still 
continues, and I would fain not part from the 
illusion. But then, what can I do with my sister's 
figure, as she stands before my desiring eyes? 
By what address shall I contrive to overlook the 
opposite church which has no more resemblance 
to your lofty dome, than I to Homer? 

Then I have so long to wait for your re-appear- 
ance, that I am forced at length to confess I am 
not in Halberstadt. 

Oh ! my dearest Gleim, what would I not give 
to penetrate your secret sentiments respecting 
me, and how willingly would I persuade myself 

* A poem called Anacreon's Apotheosis, in which a compa- 
rison is introduced highly complimentary to Gleim. 



90 KL0PST0CK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

that in knowing me better, you did not like me 
less ! . 

I spent yesterday evening with my sister in a 
sweet solitary garden, where I read to her Thom- 
son's Spring. It appears to me that Thomson's 
poetry is more imbued with feeling than even 
that of Kleist, who is almost too fine a painter, 
and exhausts the mind by constant demands on 
its attention. 

Thomson's sentiments and descriptions are 
more domestic, more appropriate to himself, and his 
bounded landscape ; he has more feeling in unfold- 
ing them, and is careful on every occasion to suf- 
fer his own individual feelings to escape, which he 
has the skill to interweave with subjects of a more 
general nature. Kleist, on the contrary, often 
presents his pictures too rapidly to the reader ; his 
transitions are abrupt — he uses no economy in 
the distribution of his ideas, and observes no gra- 
dations in the succession of his subjects. He has 
one charge, and pours forth his soul at once. 

It should seem that the Briton gives more cha- 
racter to every object. My opinions may be 
rashly formed, but such as they are, I impart 
them to you with the persuasion that even my va- 
grant thoughts should be sheltered in your bosom. 
— Condemn me if I am wrong, and I will revise the 
judgment. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 91 

My sister scolds because I brought no poem 
from you ; this girl is somewhat better than 
Klopstodk is aware of. 

Embrace him for me, and have the generosity 
not to rob me of the first place in his affections, 
an usurpation that I am fully sensible is in your 
own power. 



LETTER XVI. 

Schmidt to Gleim. 

Langesalze, 12th. 

I have always supposed it was as easy for you to 
perform a noble action, as it was for me to expect 
it of you. How then happens it that you are not 
at Langesalze ? Why do you now take so much 
time to form a resolution, when on any other oc- 
casion you are so rapid in your movements, that 
thought and action should seem to be the effort of 
the same moment? — Congreve says of a hero, 



' " if he speak, 

" 'Tis scarce a word— as he was born 
« Alone to do— and did disdain to talk." 

How do I wish this character could be applied 
to you in the present instance. The first part you 
have indeed amply verified, so you have only to 



92 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS, 

realize the other by popping in on us unexpectedly, 
to make the resemblance complete. 

I am charmed with the journalising triumvirate.* 
However wearied or exhausted by his journey 
Klopstock still shines as much as if he was in the 
classical academy. In every situation his genius 
is equally transcendant as nature is equally com- 
plete in the least or greatest of her productions. 
His visions are so beautiful, that it might have 
heen supposed he was reclining on a silken couch 
when he created them. 

I rejoice on your account, and perhaps on my 
own, that Cramer is arrived in your neighbour- 
hood- 

I perfectly agree, that Klopstock ought not to 
settle at Copenhagen, where he appears to be 
anxiously expected, for so poor a consideration as 
four hundred dollars ; he must move from place 
to place, and have the privilege of spending his 
little stipend, when, and where he pleases. 

And now let me address you on a subject which 
you cannot think unworthy of your attention. 
You may remember I spoke to you, when at 
Halberstadt, of two Runic odes I had met with in 
Temple's Essays on Heroic Virtue, where they 
are inserted in an extract from Olaus Wormius. 

* Journal of Klopstock and his Swiss companions. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 93 

To do justice to their merit, it is necessary to 
give you an idea of the Scythian religion, des- 
cended from which are all the old traditions. 

Their principal deities were Odin and Frea, and 
their son Othin. They believed that immortal ho- 
nours awaited the hero, who, during his human ex- 
istence had never turned his back on the foe, and 
performed the most splendid acts of valour. They 
maintained, that for such warriors a recompence 
was reserved in Odin's palace, where they should 
partake of a succession of feasts, and be distin- 
guished in proportion to the number they had slain 
in battle. — Lucan has said of this people, 

" Certe populi quos despicit Aretos 

" Felices errore suo, quos ille timorum 

" Maximus haud urget Lethi metus, inde ruendi, 

" In Ferum mens prona viris, animaeque capaces, 

" Mortis et ignarum redditure parcere vitae."* 

From the second ode I shrewdly suspect these 
beatified heroes were also indulged with the society 
of beautiful damsels, (not unlike the Turkish hou- 
ris,) who were called the Dysas, and who certainly 
must have formed no small part of the bliss of 
Paradise. 

The poets of that age (the bards) eminently ex- 
celled in the sublime themes of Runic songs, and 

* See the translation at the end of the volume. 



<H KtOPSTOCii: AND HIS FRIENDS. 

appear to have been unrivalled masters in the art 
of inflaming the nobler passions, which was the 
great object of their compositions. Cesar ob- 
serves, that from the commencement of the bat- 
tle, it is the office of the bard, to inspire the 
youth with heroism and a magnanimous con- 
tempt of death. Pope has happily characterised 
the influence of such compositions on the youth- 
ful mind, in the following lines, 

" And youths that died to be by poets sung." 

The two following poems are attributed to a 
prince who was called Lodbrog, and who like Da- 
vid, was at once a hero and a bard ; he composed 
the last song a few moments before his death, 
when the poisoned serpent, by which he had been 
stung was rankling in his bosom. 

Temple says he is greatly mistaken, if the true 
Pindaric spirit prevail not in these odes, and I 
am persuaded you will cordially subscribe to the 
opinion. — I send them both with a German imi- 
tation. 

Stanza 25.—— In Olai Collectione Carminorum. 

(X Pugnavimus ensibus, 

Hoc ridere me facit semper, 
Quod Balderi fratris seamna 

Parata scio in aula ! 

Bibimus vina. 

Ex concavis crateribus craniorum I 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 95 

" Non gemit vir fortis contra mortem 
Magnificis Odini in domibus 
Non venis desperabundis 
Verbis Othini ad aulam" 

" We fought with swords — I am still full of joy 
Whenever I think that a banquet is preparing for me 
In the palace of the gods — soon, soon, 
In the splendid abode of Odin, we shall drink beer 
Out of the scull of our enemies — A brave man 
Shrinks not at death — I shall use no words, 
Expressive of fear, as I enter the hall of Odin." 

Stanza 29. 

<( Fert animus finire 

Invitant me Dysa? 
Quas ex Odini aula 

Othinus mihi misit 
Laetus vina cum Aris, 

In summa sede bibam 
Vitae elapsss sunt horae 

Ridens moriar." 

4 ' But it is time to cease— Odin hath sent 

His goddesses the Dysas to conduct me to his palace, 

T am going to be placed on the highest seat, 

There to quaff goblets with the gods 

The hours of life are rolled away — I shall die laughing."* 

Would you also die laughing, dear Gleim ? 

* The poem from which these songs are extracted is of consi- 
derable length, and may be found, with the English translation, 
which has been here adopted, in Mallet's Northern Antiquities. 



96 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS, 

LETTER XVII. 

Fanny to Gkim. 

Langesalze, September 29, 1750. 

Indebted as I have been for pleasure, to the 
good fortune which gave me an opportunity of 
seeing you at Leipsic ; I cannot but be seriously 
disposed to quarrel with any thing and every thing 
that impedes your visit to Langesalze. Yet, whom, 
have we to accuse, and to what evil agent are we to 
impute the disappointment ? 

Not the poor deceased Canon who sleeps in 
his grave too quietly to have any share in the prer 
sent procrastination. I fear if we must seek an 
object for our spleen, we shall find no other than 
yourself to whose want of zeal alone we can 
ascribe the exaggeration of every trifling difficulty. 

But, pray consider ere it be too late, how much 
you will have to answer for, in having destroyed 
the charming perspective my brother had sketched 
in fancy of your arrival. Beware how you rouze 
his anger, and let me forewarn you, I should but 
waste my breath in essaying to mollify his wrath ; 
for as his joy was without measure, he is likely to 
be as immoderate in his resentments. Consider 
too, he would have some reason to complain, if all 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 97 

mir deep important deliberations should end in 
vexation and disappointment. 

Such a contest as there has been between us, 
what pleasure we should first partake with you, 
or what we should reserve for the highest treat, 
when in reality, the greatest of all pleasures would 
have been to see you at Langesalze 1 You may 
also rest assured, that if he meditate any dire 
purposes of revenge, I shall not fail to aid him 
with my best counsels and cordial support, since 
I also shall have been an incalculable loser by the 
breach of fidelity. 

I should, for instance, have learnt from you, 
fully to comprehend the beauty and character of 
the Anacreontic ode, and consequently have 
been more competent to appreciate your sportive 
songs, of which we soon expect a considerable 
collection. I should then have had the courage 
to avow what poems had failed to please me, 
and perhaps have learnt from you to assign a 
cause for the pleasure or dissatisfaction I had previ- 
ously experienced. I should — 

In short, (to sum up all at once) I should have 
aonvinced you how much I am your's. 



ii 



9$ KLOPSTOC& AND HIS FRIENDS, 

LETTER XVIIX. 

Schmidt to Gleim. 

Having once fixed the day for your departure, 
you were under a sacred obligation to perform your 
engagement. Where is all the joy I had antici- 
pated from your arrival ? What shall compensate 
for the pleasure with which I should have pre- 
sented you as my friend to all my neighbours, 
with the conviction that my own consequence was 
so proudly augmented by your's ? With what 
transports should I have conducted you to my 
most retired walks, my favourite haunts, the very 
sanctuary of meditation, which Klopstock and 
myself have both consecrated by poetry, and where 
I often wander alone to muse on him and you. 

Then you should have seen the graves of my 
forefathers, whom you would have honoured 
for the sake of their virtuous son, and lastly, you 
should have approached my birth place, where, 
if you will believe it, the nocturnal warbler is 
still heard to chaunt her melodious songs. 

I have for some time known, that Klopstock would 
remain stationary at Zurich this winter. Sulzer, 
I doubt not, apprized you of his new friend Kahn, 
and the liberal offers he had received from that 
quarter. Who could have dreamt of Klopstock's 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 99 

becoming a merchant ? None but poets are per- 
mitted to perform such miracles. 

Klopstock's odes are incomparable — nothing 
surprises me so much as that a man so susceptible 
of love, and so capable of describing those deli- 
cious transports which produce in his soul a sort 
of permanent delirium, has hitherto failed to 
excite any correspondent emotions. 

I have seen the new edition of your odes with 
delight, particularly the essay on Anacreontic Po- 
etry, a subject to which no one is so competent as 
yourself, who were, indeed, my first master. But 
must Doris die ? * I would rather advise you 
to let her live, for should the fraud be detected, no 
other maid will trust you, and it may be shrewdly 
surmised, that you were unfaithful to Doris first, 
and then contrived her death, purely to conceal 
your own infidelity. 



LETTER XIX. 

Klop stock to Gleim. 

Zurich, 8th October. 

I have just received your letter, and am not a 
little struck by the manner in which you allude to 

* Doris was a fictitious personage, often introduced in Gleim's 
p©em. 

H 2 



100 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

the number of my many new and excellent friends ; 
and you even intimate a doubt, whether you con- 
tinue to hold the same place in my heart. 

There are two truths, of which I am equally 
certain, that my affection for you is undiminished, 
and that the number of those with whom I live on 
similar terms of intimacy and endearment, can 
never be much augmented. There is Schuldhess, 
whom I truly know ; there is Kahn, whom I may 
some day introduce to you ; there is his venerable 
father, no less virtuous than himself: these are 
the only friends I have ever classed with Gleim, 
Schmidt, Cramer, and Schlegel. You are, how- 
ever, well aware that the laws of courtesy forbid 
me to repel with churlish reserve, the kind and 
amiable attention of this most hospitable people ; 
but be assured, my dear Gleim, I am as little 
formed to seek as to acquire new friends. 

I am ignorant of what Sulzer may have said on 
the subject, but beg you would immediately 
transmit whatever particulars he communicated. 
Breitinger, indeed, is a man who thinks, and with 
whom I am not unwilling to exchange thoughts. 

Do not envy these republicans; they are almost 
all sordid, time-serving people, men of vulgar am- 
bition, who crouch for interest, and are all anx- 
ious for preferment. Those who make pretensions 
to family, chuse to go into the army, and are 
looking to patronage and place. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 101 

As to Bodmer, even to you, my Gleim, I will 
here preserve silence. — I have adopted a system 
of magnanimous forbearance, from which nothing 
but absolute necessity shall induce me to deviate. 

Schuldhess is attached to a lovely girl, with 
whom I am as intimate as with himself and 
Kahn. I am but just returned from their resi- 
dence, where I have spent many delightful days 
in their society. She is pretty, (at least to please 
my fancy,) is archly playful, has some talents for 
satire, an exquisite vein of raillery, and above all 
a soul of the higher order. 

What is become of Schmidt and his sister ? I 
have received no letters from either. Be recon- 
ciled to me, dearest Gleim. Your last letter had 
not its wonted tone of kindness. I have important 
reasons for remaining here this winter, as in that 
interval many things may occur connected with 
the future partnership. 



LETTER XX. 

Schmidt to Gleim. 

Have you not received my last two letters, or 
has my sister's billet failed to reach you ? I am 
not unwilling to wave my own claims as a corres- 
pondent, but your leaving unnoticed a lady's 

H S 



102 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

letter, is a sin against gallantry, that admits of no 
excuse ; and I am tempted, by way of reprizal, 
to pretend she was merely my amanuensis, and 
that I employed the contrivance to extort from 
you an early answer. 

Do not ask what I am doing, lest I should be 
forced to own, I have nothing to do. My soul 
languishes for society, deprived of whose vivifying 
influence, it burns as dimly as a lamp on an old 
Roman grave. I know not who has seen a 
genuine smile on my countenance during the 
last half year. Laugh I may, and often.— But 
with that the soul has nothing to do. — Even 
the Muses are estranged, and no longer ad- 
mit me to their wonted confidence, actuated, 
perhaps, by the coquetish spirit of a Parisian belle 
to whom no petit maitre is acceptable who has not 
sacrificed to vanity a score of hearts, and as many 
reputations. You are sensible, my dear Gleim, 
that I have no such oblations to offer to any maids, 
celestial or terrestrial, and that therefore there is 
small chance of success for your poor forlorn 
Schmidt. 

If I do not mistake, I have already apprized you 
of Klopstock's good fortune. The friendship of the 
Swiss continues to increase. A young merchant 
of the name of Kahn urges him to accept a share 
of his profits, and has actually entered into a co- 
venant with him for that purpose. How came 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 108 

you little gossip to tell him, I had presumed to 
smile at his spiritual gallantry ? He was not half 
pleased on the occasion. 



LETTER XXI. 

From the same. 

13th December, 1750. 

I believe I have already told you, that since my 
banishment to this northern part of Saxony, where 
I live estranged from all our former friends, my 
soul has lost its native fire, and w r ere it not some- 
times revived by the influence of your letters, 
would sink into a state of torpor and dejection. 
After this avowal, my dear Gleim, it will be pain- 
ful to you to reflect, that by your silence you have 
deprived me of the best and almost the only solace 
to my desolate destiny. Yet let not this idea 
affect you too deeply, since the depression from 
which I have lately been so severe a sufferer is now 
happily removed. I received your letter with the 
transport with which the enamoured youth once 
more listens to the voice of his departed love, 
who, in beauteous vision, returns to him at the 
midnight hour, to whisper peace and consolation 
to his soul. Roused from apathy and despon- 
dence, my heart again is young, the languid spirit 

h 4 



104< KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

rekindles, and manly vigour is restored. Could 
you witness the transformation you have produced, 
you would yourself be astonished to discover that 
such preternatural powers were in your possession. 
Venus herself scarcely did more for Eneas. 

Scindit se nubes, et in aethera purgat apertum. 
Restitit JEneas, claraque in luce refulsit, 
Os humerosque deo similis : namque ipsa decoram 
Cesariem nato genitrix, lumenque juventae 
Purpureum, et laetos oculis, afflarat honores*. 

Seek not to banish from your heart the amiable 
solicitude to meet with some admirable but hi- 
therto unknown maid, to whom you might safely 
promise eternal love. The sentiment does you 
honour. Yet as I am persuaded such vague soli- 
citude is one of the greatest evils that escaped 
from Pandora's box, I have little doubt that it 
was inspired for some retributory purpose, and 
that it amounts in reality to a judgment of heaven, 
which you have incurred by some previous trans- 
gressions. 

I am surprised you should not yourself have 
made the inference, since you cannot but be 
conscious of your trespasses towards a certain 
lovely maid, whose perfections not even your 
fastidious self disputed, and whom you left to the 
slights and stings of neglect. When you once 

* See translation at the end of the volume. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 105 

related to me the full history, I shuddered for you, 
being too well aware how good a memory the 
Gods possess, whenever they think proper to take 
cognizance of human delinquents.* But I must 
quit this subject, which touches my own con- 
science with a sympathetic pang. 

And now to resume the subject of marriage. 
After all, my dear Gleim, I do not conceive your 
case to be so very desperate, that you should be 
forced to chuse a mere drudging housekeeper 
at last, for that indeed would be the greatest mis- 
fortune that could befall mortal man. But it is 
absolutely necessary to descend from your present 
standard of female excellence. You ought in 
this respect to imitate the moderation we ob- 
serve in the ways of heaven to man, which is in- 
deed rigid in exacting duty, but commutes for 
one half the virtue it prescribes. 

In my opinion, to the man who is in pursuit of 
a wife, that woman must be most desirable who 
is most capable of being moulded to his taste. It 
is not enough that a girl should possess qualities 
intrinsically excellent ; they must be such as shall 
correspond with my wishes, and harmonize with 
my ideas, respecting the female character. 

* It will appear that all this is said in raillery, and is a sort 
of allegorical accusation, of which the Correspondents under- 
stood the meaning. 



106 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

Admitting this principle, from which I am sure 
you do not dissent, it follows as an obvious con- 
sequence, that a girl who should be little cul- 
tivated, but whose natural capacity was suscep- 
tible of improvement, would be preferable to the 
more intelligent girl, who had received from edu- 
cation some particular bias incompatible with such 
aptitudes to sympathy and assimilation. 

The result of these reflections tends consider- 
ably to lessen the difficulty in discovering an ob- 
ject worthy of your attachment. You have no 
reason to complain that Cramer and Gartner have 
been more fortunate than yourself. The former 
must certainly have remitted many of his demands 
for excellence, since, on the death of his first 
love, who was indeed an incomparable creature, 
he transferred his affections to her younger sister. 

With regard to Gartner, his sentiments on the 
subject appear to have been perfectly just, and 
from his letter to Gellert, I am disposed to con- 
clude he had formed such moderate expectations 
as are rarely disappointed. 

In fine, my dear friend, the best decision of 
this momentous question is (generally speaking) to 
be found in the pithy aphorism of an elder sage, 
that he is the happiest man who requires the least to 
make him so. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. JO? 

LETTER XXII. 

From the same, 

Eude, December. 

I premise this letter will be short. Congratu- 
late yourself, my dear Gleim, that you have lived 
to see this miracle that I should write but half a 
sheet, of which some of my friends have, perhaps, 
despaired for ten years. I am, however, unable 
to ascribe the change to any radical reformation in 
my epistolary habits, for the truth is, that I have 
for some days been subject to a dizziness, which 
incapacitates me for any long application. 

I have to thank you for your last letter, in which 
you give me a hearty scolding ; this little testiness 
has only served to make you more amiable in my 
eyes, and I have, therefore, the most cheerful 
alacrity in asking pardon for the offensive parts of 
my last letter. I am even delighted with your 
impetuosity, and more than ever of the opinion, 
that we must make people angry if we would 
extract the latent virtues of the heart. Yet, how 
was it possible you should take so very seriously 
the slight comparison I ventured to make between 
your critical objections to a damsel in Ariosto, and 
your fastidious scruples on the choice of a wife ? 

You are aware, that in a little sportive sally. 



108 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

which is meant to pass for wit, one should not be cap- 
tious, though something too much or too little should 
be said : there should surely be as much indul- 
gence shewn to a flow of fancy, as to a fit of in- 
toxication, since we are as little masters of thought 
in one instance, as of speech in the other. In 
spite of these palliative suggestions, I am, how- 
ever, sincerely sorry to have offended you by a 
temerity of which I have been often forewarned 
in vain. From this moment, let the father of 
mischief take to himself all travesties, bons mots, 
and jeu£-d'esprits, which for the future, I shall 
class with the plague, and shun as carefully 
as the worst disease. I am indeed tempted to 
believe, that from the Grecian jester who lost his 
head by joking on the one-eyed king, to my poor 
unfortunate self, there have been more "victims to 
humour than valour, and more destroyed by wit, 
than have perished in the field. 

Our Klopstock appears, by his last letters, to 
be in full glee with all the girls of the Swiss Can- 
tons. Methinks he might be satisfied with his 
Clio, and the maids of Zurich, without coveting 
our gayer muses, who, to say the truth, are not 
in his vocation. It is strange, but true, as Horace 
says, 

■ Ut nemo, quam sibi sortem 

Seu ratio dederit, seu fors objecerit, ill& 

Contentus vivat. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 109 



That no man lives 



Contented with the lot which reason gives, 
Or chance presents. 

Francis. 



LETTER XXIII. 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

Zurich, 13th January. 

How often in receiving letters from my parents 
or Cramer and Schlegel, have I repined at finding 
none from Gleim ! shall I accuse you, my friend, 
or leave you to your own reproaches ? I appeal 
to your own heart, and with the imperious warmth 
of friendship, conjure you to relieve my sus- 
pence. The moment you have received this letter 
you must dismiss business and write to me, though 
it should not be post day ; you must not defer till 
to-morrow to give me intelligence not only of your- 
self, but Schmidt, whose obstinate silence is a pro- 
blem I seek in vain to comprehend. It is possible I 
may have importuned him with questions to which 
he was unwilling or unable to reply ; but he knows 
me sufficiently to be aware, that I am not of an 
uncandid nature, and that whether he had frankly 
solved my doubts, or honestly confessed his inabi- 
lity to remove them, I should have believed my- 
self equally indebted to his friendship. Truly, 



110 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

my dear Glenn, when I indulge in tender but me- 
lancholy retrospections of our former intimacy ;— - 
when I contrast with this coldness some vanished 
scenes of felicity ; — when I recall the moments in 
which my Schmidt, who at that time both loved and 
trusted his Klopstock, would open to me his whole 
heart without mystery or reserve ; — when I think 
of this and mark the painful difference, I am stung 
to the quick, and my soul, once so sanguine and 
childishly alive to joy, is devoured with anguish 
and disappointment. Yet you must not suppose 
that I condemn or that I have ceased to love him. 
No, my affection is unalterable ; I write to you 
with my whole heart and from the impulse of the 
moment. 

You will find at my father's a letter addressed to 
Bodmer, which has, however, been suppressed ; he 
is not capable of becoming a magnanimous enemy. 
Of this when we meet, we shall have ample matter 
for discussion ; for the present, I will only say, 
that I consumed some portion of my life, under- 
took a long pilgrimage, and submitted to a sepa- 
ration from my best and dearest friends, only to 
discover the real character of the man we con- 
sidered as a brother, only to be convinced that 
he was less upright and single-minded than our- 
selves. 

I have spent the whole evening in reading Tom 
Jones, and was once seduced by Sophia to so deep a 



KLOPSTOCK AND IliS FRIENDS. Ill 

reverie, that I pressed the sweet girl's hand, 
and charged her to write to Gleim. I am now 
quite exhausted and only wish you may sleep as 
soundly as I expect to sleep, though I should 
vainly ask to slumber at this moment. What a 
delicious thing is friendship, when such nothings 
may be written, and are willingly read for the sake 
of the writer. 



LETTER XXIV. 

Schmidt to Gleim. 

Langesalze, January, 1751. 

My dearest Gleim, 

By what title shall I address you ? what epithet 
canl select that falls not short of my feelings ? how 
poor am I now in words ! I, who as a lover, could 
overflow with eloquence, and create a new lan- 
guage to supply new names of tenderness and en- 
dearment, am yet wholly unable to recompense 
your friendship or to do justice to mine own. I will 
assert the freedom of my soul, and at the hazard 
of infringing Klopstock's antient rights on my 
heart, acknowledge with the same frankness with 
which you have avowed your preference for 
Kleist, that you are yet nearer and dearer to me 



112 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS* 

than my beloved Klopstock. What I feel for you 
is genuine inspiration. You transfuse your own 
thoughts, you excite in me another spirit, and in- 
spire me with reverence for my own nature, 

Tuura quod placeo, si placeo tuuui est. 

That while I live my numbers please, 
If pleasing is thy gift alone ; 

but how shall I describe my joy on receiving the 
assurance of vour favourable sentiments ? No, it 
is not simply joy, but rather impassioned gratitude. 
I should even call it rapture, if that seemed not 
to preclude duration. 

I am as much touched with Kleist's sorrow for 
liis brother's death, dear Gleim, as you can be, 
and perhaps still more, from having been less ac- 
customed to dwell on mournful impressions. Com- 
fort him, my friend, console him with that native 
eloquence which is best prompted by sympathy 
and affection. The language of an afflicted heart 
is wholly different from that fictitious passion of 
the poet, who, like Klopstock, imagines himself 
receiving his friend's last sighs. 

I accept not your indulgence for my supposed 
inconstancy in love ; for, believe me, I am much 
more susceptible than successful. You see, dear 
Gleim, I rely on your assurance, that I cannot 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 113 

gossip with you too often \ I assure you my letters 
shall, in future, resume that ch earful tone which 
you missed in my last. But then remember you 
must allow me to joke and laugh as much as I 
please, nor should you take it amiss if I sometimes 
say a good tiling rather than a wise one ; do not, 
however, imagine I am capable of dictating any 
thing to wound your feelings; suffer me but 
sometimes to sport like Anacreon, and you shall 
find me harmless and gentle as his dove. 



LETTER XXV. 

Klopstock to Gleim* 

Quedlinburg, March, 1751. 

Good morning, dear Gleim, here I am once 
more. Come as soon as possible to your Klop- 
stock. 

Postscript by Klopstock, the Father. 
Oh ! this laconic style, but so it is when chil- 
dren do not take after their parents. I doubt not, 
my worthy friend, of seeing you to-morrow morn- 
ing, even without this formal advertisement. I 
shall infallibly expect you in spite of let or impe- 
diment. The two gallant Swiss love you already, 



114 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 



and I can answer for your speedy requital of the 

G. H. KlopstocKc 



obligation. 



LETTER XXVI. 

From Klopstock to Gleim. 

Quedlinburg, March 6th. 

Dearest Gleim, 

We are so near, and yet must exchange letters, 
pray get rid of this vexatious general chapter, and 
defer your journey to Waldeck ; there are many 
reasons (which canbestbe explained when we meet) 
for accelerating my departure to Copenhagen. — 
You may now perhaps be able to fix the time for 
your canonical engagement, of which I shall 
anxiously expect intelligence. We shall have 
much to say of Langesalze, and of the subject 
ever present to my thoughts. My passion revives 
in full force ; my love is drawn from the lurking 
corners of my heart, to which it had escaped for 
shelter. I long since became acquainted with the 
fearful boy (for once let me use this word), and 
now learn again to feel his power. Often have 
I summoned courage to bid him sleep, or feign to 
sleep, but I am now convinced he never listened ^ 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 115 

for if I would recall that moment, I cannot believe 
it ever existed. It is impossible you should enter 
into the labyrinths of my heart. It is true, that 
hope is almost gone, the feeble prop slides from 
my grasp, I sink with it, I am ready to acquiesce 
in despondence. I scarcely know what I write, but 
this I know, I have never written before so coldly of 
my love. I have once more sent letters to Schmidt 
and his sister. Ah, Gleim, methinks you have 
not done well to revive my few T faint hopes. 



LETTER XXVII 



To the same. 



Quedlinburg, March 28. 

Just as I was sitting down to write to you ar- 
rived your billet ; to which I can only answer, that 
friendship forbids you to prolong my stay. 

Among other reasons it will be sufficient to say, 
that BernstorrT (and Bernstorff is the most amiable 
of men) supposes me already on the way to Copen- 
hagen. I swear to you once more, your prayers 
are to me children of the gods, and sacred as the 
daughters of Jove: but, dearest Gleim, if my 
welfare be really precious in your sight, ask 

i 2 



118 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

me no more. I shall be with you on Monday — 
but merely as a traveller. Even Schmidt loves you 
not so truly as your Klopstock* 



LETTER XXVIII. 

To. the.- same. 

Quedlingburg, March 21. 

I am unable to resist such persuasive entreaties.. 
I must depart— I can only say I must depart now 
to ensure the privilege of spending with you many 
future long delightful summers in the pleasures of 
friendship and mutual confidence. Could you but 
look into my heart, could you know how much it 
yearns to speak when reason forbids to speak, you 
would not add another word to increase my sad- 
ness. What indeed would it avail if I remained, 
when I should be too uneasy to enjoy even your 
society ? On Thursday early I shall be in Halber- 
stadt, and remain with you till midnight., 
Gleim — this is almost more than I ought to give 
you. Cramer, his Charlotte, and my parents, all 
approve of my decision : I have sent a brief, but 
mournful ! farewel to Langesalzc 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 117 

LETTER XXIX. 

Fanny to Klopstock. 

Langesalze, 7th April. 

I will at length give wing to the little dove, for 
whose arrival, my dear cousin, you have so ear* 
nestly solicited; though really it is no common 
requisition, for such a little tender creature to cross 
over the sea. 

Where are you now, and whither shall the 
dove pursue your steps ? the poor little traveller 
will be out of breath ere he can reach you, do 
not therefore importune him with too many 
questions ; for, besides that he must be as weary 
as Anacreon^s messenger, he will perhaps be as 
much disposed as myself to chide at having so 
far to seek you. It costs me many a pang to re- 
flect, that one has to traverse so many countries 
with one's thoughts, and even penetrate to the 
north pole to find you. Such a distance may well 
appear formidable to a girl who could scarcely be 
persuaded to take a journey to Leipsic ! Pray 
make much of the little darling ; not even omit- 
ting the most soothing caresses, lest he should blab 
all the hard things I have surmised of your neglect 
in not visiting us at Langesalze ; for you must be 
well aware, that if I was not too good-natured to 



118 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

recriminate, I might, witli some reason, abuse you 
for having disappointed my expectations, and de- 
prived us of the pleasure of seeing you ? It is well 
for you I am not disposed to wrangle on a point, 
that cannot now be recalled, and, least of all, with 
one whom I would fain pronounce not guilty. I 
believe you will be pleased to hear that Miss Ha- 
genbruch is married to Mr. Lutheroth — a sweet 
amiable girl ! and so friendly with me ; I know 
not whether she will in future be equally so. 

I have promised her an ode on her nuptials, and 
I hope you will also compose a poem on the occasion. 
Do not laugh at my promise. I am indeed no born 
poetess ; but my conversation with you ought to 
have made me something like one ; and were it 
but for that alone, I should always be with the 
greatest friendship, yours, &c. 



LETTER XXX. 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

On the Great Belt, 11th April. 

Dearest Gleim, 
I have now written to Fanny. I had conjured 
her to send a letter to me by Hagerdorn. Dearest 
Gleim, write soon what she is doing— I have little 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 119 

hope of receiving from her an early letter. I wish 
you were now witli us — it is delightful to traverse 
the sea with full sails. I cannot send a long letter 
how — I can only say but, write soon. 



LETTER XXXI. 

To the same. 

Copenhagen, 1 st May. 

I sent you, my dearest friend, a billet from the 
Great Belt, to which I now refer you. I find Co- 
penhagen extremely pleasant ; and should be 
perfectly happy but for the melancholy reflection, 
that no letter arrives from Fanny. What conduct 
ought I to pursue now that fortune no longer 
frowns on my prospects ? What should I do or not 
do ? there is my perplexity. I should act so differently 
if I ventured to believe my affection was returned, 
or if I was quite convinced that it was rejected. 
And yet how can I longer doubt of her indifference? 
It is now almost three years since I saw her for the 
first time in Langesalze. I swear to you, my Gleim, 
by our friendship, (and how can I name a pledge 
more dear and sacred !) by our union I swear, she 
will never be so loved again. This cloud will long 
remain to spread a dark shade of melancholy over 

i 4 



120 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS, 

my future life ; even now, when every thing con- 
spires to make me happy, I feel its invidious in- 
fluence. Why am I thus doomed to surfer? is 
it that my heart may be purified and invigo- 
rated to make nobler efforts for the attainment of 
virtue ? These views are perhaps worthy of Provi- 
dence ; but are they not accomplished ? and must 
I still be doomed to hopeless misery ? Let me en- 
quire no farther, but endeavour to submit with 
patient resignation. I am forced to lay down my 
pen. 

I have now something to add, that to you alone, 
my Gleim, (observe that) to you alone would I breathe 
for the world. You may, perhaps, have heard Gisecke, 
of Brunswick, mention Margaret Moller, of Ham- 
burgh. I was lately introduced to this girl ; and 
passed in her society most of the time I lately spent 
at Hamburgh. I found her, in every sense of the 
word, so lovely, so amiable, so full of attractions, 
that I could, at times, scarcely forbear to give her 
the name which is to me the dearest in existence. 
I was often with her alone ; and, in those moments 
of unreserved intercourse, was insensibly led to 
communicate my melancholy story. Could you 
have seen her in those moments, my Gleim, how 
she looked, and listened, and how often she inter- 
rupted, and how tenderly she wept— and if you 
knew how much she is my friend — and yet it was 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 121 

not for her that I had so long suffered. — What a 
heart must she possess to be thus touched for a 
stranger ! At this thought I am almost tempted to 
make a comparison — but then does a mist gather 
before mine eyes— and, if I probe my heart, I feel 
that I am more unhappy than ever. 

The sympathy expressed by this noble minded 
maid has touched the chord of all my former feel- 
ings ; every painful circumstance is recalled, every 
keen sensation renewed, and I am more than ever 
conscious of my present wretchedness and desola- 
tion. Oh that you could give me some intelli- 
gence to lay this tumult to rest ! Give me intel- 
ligence of whatever natuue it may be — I look for 
no good. 



LETTER XXXII. 
Klopslock to Fanny. 

Friedensber^, four miles from Copen- 
hagen, i Uh May, 1751. 

Your little anacreontic dove, my dearest Cousin, 
arrived yesterday, on a lovely spring evening, whilst 
the full moon beamed in all her beauty ; and found 
me in a country which might vie with any in Sax- 
ony for its delightful aspect. The nightingales 
sing here as early as with you j and if you would 



122 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

but send more little doves, they should all fly with 
me to some wooded dell, and light on every lowly 
bush where the nightingales are wont to chaunt 
their tender songs. 

I find this place not so near the north pole as 
you suspect, and, indeed, as I too once supposed, 
and I enjoy here all the quiet and delicious seclusion 
of country life. 

The King, who is the best and most amiable 
man in Denmark, is pleased to provide for me this 
delightful residence. Several stately mansions have 
been erected on the island ; the King has chosen 
for his retreat a mere villa, without the smallest 
pretensions to grandeur ; but, in point of situation, 
the most pleasant in the neighbourhood. In this 
small house he occupies but one apartment, exclu- 
sive of an audience chamber ; but it stands in the 
middle of a wood ; in which are nearly a hundred 
vistas, crossing each other in pleasing confusion, 
and all leading to the sea. It was to one of these 
sequestered paths that I yesterday withdrew on 
the arrival of your unlooked for letter ; and, hav- 
ing perused and reperused the contents, I at length 
thus addressed the little dove : 

' And thou art come to me at last, little ami ? 
' able Dove ; but thou hast spent a tedious time 
* on the way ! Fain would I question thee ; but 
' I perceive thou art out of breath. So come 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 123 

If and perch on this long pendant bough, on which 

* the moonbeams are most bright, and where the 

* gales of evening breathe most softly. Here rest 
' awhile to recover from thy fatigue ; I will then 
' whisper to thee a few questions. 

' Listen now then, sweet darling, and tell me, 
' had not spring begun to bloom ere thou didst 

* take thy flight from home, and did not thy mis- 
' tress sometimes ramble to those haunts, where I 

* have so often walked with her alone ? 

' Yes, sometimes she went towards the spot, 
f but soon came back. 

6 Was she alone ? usually and always gay ? 
' Was she not sometimes wont to speak to 

5 thee of her friends ? 

' Sometimes she would mention them, 

c But tell me, sweetest bird, had I a place 

* among them ? 

' Your name seldom escaped her lips. 

' But hast thou not been present when she had 

6 received a letter from an absent friend ? 

' Oh, often enough. I have seen her lay down 
■' the letter with a very serious look, and either 
6 take up a book or pursue some other avocation. 

' Hast thou not sometimes observed a tear of 
' pity in her lovely eyes ? 

4 Never, she is too wise for that. 

< Hold, Dove, I will pluck the fairest feather 

* from thy wing, if thou dare again to pervert Ian- 



124 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

* guage, by giving the sacred name of wisdom to 

* such impenetrable hardness of heart. 

< If you use me thus for speaking the truth, I 

* must instantly fly away. 

6 Stay, my bird, I will do her no harm. 

* Then I consent to tarry with you ; but why 

* have you ceased to ask questions ? and why i& 
' your countenance so sad? 

6 Nay, now I thought I had a cheerful look. 

* Can you call that cheerfulness, which is but 

* the flimsy disguise of an old inveterate sorrow — 

* a captivity frpm which you vainly struggle to 
€ escape. ? Yet you appeared so glad when I first 

* approached, that I wonder what can have hap- 

* pened since to produce the sudden change ; sure 

* I am I have not wronged you ! No, by all the 
c powers of Olympus, I would not have done 
c aught to injure you, for never have I perceived 
' so strong an expression of anguish in any face 
c as I now perceive in your countenance, and yet 
6 you appear to have a heart pure from self-reproach. 

* Come hither, my sweet bird, rest on my lyre, 

* and I will play thee a song of a certain Fanny, 

* the dear and only object of my existence. 

* Why droops thy little fluttering pinion ? and 
' why art thou so sad ? " Oh, cease to play that 
c strain, or I fly for shelter to yon dark copse, 
c and behold thee no more." 

' Remain with me, my pretty companion, and I 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. l%5 

* will cease to sing. Yet, one word more, and J 

* have done. Why does your mistress impute my 

* not seeing her previous to her departure to neg- 
' lect, when she ought to have known, my absence 
t had another and far different source ? 

' You require of me too much— I am but her mes- 
c senger, and pretend not to divine her secret 
€ thoughts.' 

In this manner I prattled with your little dove, 
till we were interrupted by a party of intruders, 
who dragged me from the delicious wood, the 
beautiful shore, and my beloved companion. 

Would you again write to me ? Letters are 
usually but eight days on the road, though this 
has made such a tedious journey. If you seriously 
mean to write an ode on Miss Hagenbruch's mar- 
riage, I beg you will send it to me. You may 
perhaps happen to lay your hand on another ods 
you once promised to return, and in which one 
line runs thus, 

c How blest were my days whilst a stranger to love !' 
I am, with true friendship, 

Yours, &c. 

LETTER XXXIII. 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

Friedensberg, May 11th. 

You ask me, dearest Gleim, what I felt at our 
parting ? Certainly as much as you, if not still 



126 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

more ; for in conflicts of this nature, I am accus- 
tomed to gain the victory. 

If I might venture to have a voicein the question, 
whether it should be for you to go to Langesalze, or 
for Schmidt to come to you at Halberstadt, I should 
certainly vote for the former. It would afford me 
such exquisite satisfaction to know that you had 
seen Fanny ; to find you had perhaps explored 
some crevice of her heart to me inscrutable, and 
to receive the result of all your vigilant obser- 
vations. 

Let me suppose you at Langesalze, where you 
would surely accompany Fanny in walking in the 
gardens of our friend Weiss, and where you could 
not but see the Apollo, whom Fanny (wicked 
girl,) once said I resembled. But, no, I would 
rather have you seek Orpheus and Eurydice. — I 
envy and almost grudge the conversation you will 
enjoy with Fanny. There are some little things, 
I should so much rather have to say for myself — 
but no matter. — At length you return from Lan- 
gesalze, and immediately write to me. But what 
I would fain know, that 

Even now, with what impatience my heart 
throbs against the expected letter. 

If you be but swift to go, and prompt to write — 
of the last I am assured, when secure of the first — 
go then, my friend, use all possible dispatch - } — 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 127 

but still how long, how very long, will that inter- 
val of suspence appear to me ! 



LETTER XXXIV. 

From the same. 

jFriedensberg, 24th May 
How rich in happiness am I this morning ! ricn 
in the arrival of letters from my parents and my 
Gleim, which were to me more balmy than the 
luxuriant May, now shedding its white blossoms 
on the woods of Friedensberg. Yet is the May 
blossom here beautiful and voluptuous as in any 
part of Saxony, that sweet glade alone excepted, 
where I have so often rambled with my Fanny, 
My Fanny did I say ? Ah ! that dear my — if I 
but dared to think her mine. How do I still love 
her ! — and with what transports do I think of my 
Gleim's journey to Langesalze ! Let me not dis- 
turb this sweet idea with any suggestions of jea- 
lousy. Is it possible to distrust Gleim ? Yes, to 
Fanny shall he go, and when I am far distant. 

I can w T rite no more on this subject — I must take 
a turn in the wood, stretch myself under some pen- 
dant boughs, and there read over all my precious 
letters. 



128 ELOFSTOeR AND HIS FRIENJ&S. 

I have been— I am returned — I have studied 
the whole volume of letters, without having been 
once missed or interrupted. I have indeed already 
chosen, and in a manner appropriated to myself, 
certain secluded walks, where I am seldom ex- 
posed to intrusion. I have reperused the little 
Moller/s letters ; a sweet artless creature she is — 
she has already written to me four times, and 
writes in a style so exquisitely natural I Were you 
to see this lovely girl, and read her letters, you 
would as easily give Sulzer credit for impartiality, 
as conceive it possible that she should be mistress of 
the French, English, and Italian languages, and even 
conversant with Greek and Latin literature. I 
wish you would engage in a correspondence with 
her - y you need only say you write at my request, 
and be assured she will readily send an answer, for 
she is a most amiable, unaffected creature. 

I mentioned Hagedorn in my last letter, and 
perhaps for that reason omitted to mention Mde* 
Schelnin, who did not quite come up to the image 
I had formed of her in my mind's eye. You must 
not from hence infer, that I was not greatly 
pleased. It was certainly to her disadvantage to 
be seen in company with the Molkr, who could 
not but extort the preference ; and, indeed, had 
their merits been equally poised, I suspect I 
should always have a stronger prepossession for 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 129 

the single than the married woman ; and so many 
people accord with me in this sentiment, that I am 
persuaded it cannot impeach my taste. You 
will perhaps retort, that, in the present instance, 
the question is purely of friendship. Admitted ; 
but even then, in conversing with women, we 
shall always find a sly little imperceptible some- 
thing we never experience with our own sex. 

I dined in company with Hagedorn at the 
Moller's ; but much as I admired, I conversed 
with him very little, and to say the truth, my re- 
serve was justified by his example. 

This Schelnin is quite the creature of sentiment, 
and as Hagedorn observes, dove-eyed in every 
sense of the word. I discovered in her one cer- 
tain criterion of merit, that of being most 
esteemed by those with whom she had been the 
longest acquainted. 

I lately read to Count Moltka the fifth canto of 
the Messiah, and had the satisfaction to observe 
that he understood it perfectly. He often inter- 
rupted with applause, and as often blamed his 
own impetuosity ; but declared he could not 
wholly suppress his emotions. It was seven 
in the morning when we had this interview. At 
which early hour the courtiers assemble ; at eight, 
Moltka's antichamber is crouded with visitors, 



130 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

among whom he is distinguished only by wearing 
the King's picture set in brilliants. 

And now again for your journey to Langesalze. 
It will be precisely at Whitsuntide ; and that sea- 
son is rapidly approaching. I can write no more, 
I have so much to say that could not be written. 

Farewell. 



LETTER XXXV. 

Schmidt to Gleim. 

Ende, June, 1751. 

How comes it, dearest Gleim, that you, who 
could so long resist the importunities of a poet 
are so eager to obey the summons of a prelate ; 
and why was the visit so long deferred, if destined 
to come to such an untimely end ? Answer me 
this question, dearest Gleim — is it not true ? Are 
you not conscious that you ought to have spared 
us some few days more ? 

You must not blame your friends if they ex- 
ecrate all your important affairs, and denounce 
the general chapter for your sake. Not but that 
the vocation in itself is honourable and meri- 
torious, and, without doubt, it is a charming 
thing to preside in such a synod of great men 
as their right reverend secretary and coun* 
sellor. But still I cannot be convinced but that 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 131 

you might sometimes steal a moment to visit a 
friend ; nor can I possibly comprehend why, 
when you venture to enter another house, the arrival 
and the departure should so rapidly succeed each 
other ? But much as I may repine at the short- 
ness of your visit, you must not imagine I am the 
less grateful for the pleasure it has afforded ; on 
the contrary, I am even the more sensible to the 
friendship that could prompt you to incur so much 
trouble and inconvenience. 

And now suffer me, in my mother's name, to 
enquire in what manner you accomplished the latter 
half of your journey ? I cannot say much in favour 
of our route from Nordhausen. ** The clouds wept 
" with me, the face of heaven looked dark and 
" mournful as mine. I had to wade through bog 
" and slough j dripping with rain, I slowly travers- 
" ed the dull fenny plains that presented no bean- 
s' ties to the eye, and in two long hours scarcely 
*' advanced a single mile. To beguile the time, 
" I had recourse to the pipe and the muse, and 
" smoked, and rhymed for very ennui, whilst my 
" faithful steed, dejected as his rider, paced slowly 
¥ on, neighing dolefully with many a sign of dis- 
" contented listlessness."* 

You will have no difficulty in imagining pur 

* These lines in the original are in measure. 

k2 



182 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

deplorable condition when we - reached the inn, 
where you have also halted, and where lank- 
jawed famine has surely fixed her abode. 

Not one morsel could we put within our lips, 
and I really believe neither smoke nor fire has been 
seen in this abominable place for a century. The 
image of want, so vividly described by Ovid, has 
even the expression of prelatical portliness, com- 
pared with the ghastly spectre that here reigns in 
horrible supremacy. So much for our adventures. 

And now, dear Gleim, tell us what has befallen 
you ? Was your pilgrimage through the Harz- 
forest happily accomplished ? You must assuredly 
have been very happy to find yourself once more 
in Halberstadt, enjoying the society of Sulzer 
and his beloved, with all those other friends and 
amusements you appeared to miss so much at 
Langesalze. 

The mama and my sister beg to be most kindly 
remembered to you ; the former is never weary 
of singing your praises, and of reiterating how 
much — how very much you have pleased her. As 
to my sister, she esteems you even more than be- 
fore ; and really it is sometimes quite edifying, 
when the theme is started, to hear us all, with one 
consent, laud and magnify you in full chorus. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 133 

LETTER XXXVI. 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

Copenhagen, July 13th. 

How can you love me, dear Gleim, and yet 
remain silent ? I have been apprized by my fa- 
ther, that on the 12th of last month you com- 
menced your journey to Thuringia ; — perhaps 
a letter may be already on the way — perhaps — 
yet why should I thus attempt to deceive myself? 
I know too well what you will have to commu- 
nicate — I know that Fanny does not love me. I 
conjure you, dearest Gleim, to shew less tender- 
ness, and no longer withhold the truth. 

Let me suppose then, that having already gained 
the intelligence I dread to receive, you proceed 
to enquire (love out of the question) what senti- 
ments she at present entertains for me, and whe* 
ther she consents to be my friend, in that degree 
to which I may justly aspire, after so long, so 
constant, so devoted an attachment. 

Schmidt has returned a large part of my former 
letters. I am now busied in transcribing them, for 
they were become almost illegible, and I wished 
to retrace, at a single glance, the mournful history 
of my heart. 

Non hie de nihilo nascitur historia. 
K3 



154 &LOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS* 

LETTER XXXVII. 

Klopstock to Schmidt 

Friedensberg, 20th July. 

Is it possible my Schmidt can have totally re* 
nounced the correspondence with his Klopstock ? 
With what painful feelings have I endured sus* 
pence ? Ask your heart, appeal to your con- 
science, if you have not ceased to be my friend ? 
and why should you scruple to own the change 
to him whose whole soul has been laid open to 
your view ? 

Often am I occupied in presenting to my mind 
the various pleasures which might have con* 
spired to form for me a happy destiny, had I 
never known you, nor ever loved your sister. 
I steal to solitude, and read, or rather think 
(that is the right word) in Young ; I pursue my 
literary labours, and transcribe the letters we have 
formerly exchanged with each other. I have col- 
lected in one book those you wrote to me, and 
those you lately thought proper to return. 

Ah ! once indeed, was Schmidt my friend, when 
he wrote those dear letters, in one of which* ad- 
dressed to me when I was ill, I found (do you 
remember it?) the following passage: " I was 
" once saying to Kuhnert, that if you ever be- 
" came unhappy, I should no longer be able to 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS, 135 

" meet your countenance, and that however I 
" might be acquitted by conscience, the idea of 
** your misery would inflict on my soul the most 
" poignant stings of reproach. Kuhnert was un* 
" able to conceive why I should be thus affected, 
" if I was conscious of innocence, and if even you 
" absolved me from blame. My God ! how little 
" can some people comprehend such sentiments. 
" I cut the matter short by exclaiming — It is not 
" for every mind to have this innate dread of re- 
" proach." 

Resolve me, I conjure you, that great problem 
in your conduct, that during the half year I spent 
in Switzerland, I received not a single letter from 
Langesalze ? I beseech you to throw some light 
on this fearful mystery. I have too long lingered 
in the labyrinth ; and the more I explore, the more 
am I bewildered. Who that really felt as a friend 
should feel, could have doomed me for so long an 
interval to solicitude and suspence ? Such a friend 
(if I may dare profane the name), such a friend 
loved me not. Had you written but one letter, 
or even a single line, on the day of my departure 
for Zurich, it would have given me wings to fly to 
you. Can you imagine I should almost have past 
your habitation, but for the most melancholy and 
agonising of all reflexions, that I was no longer 
dear to you ? Could you know with what sensa- 

k 4 



136 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS* 

tions I approached Erfurt. — Not daring to trust 
myself so near a spot I had frequently visited with 
your sister, I besought the postillion to make a devi- 
ation of six miles from the regular route, and conduct 
me to Weimar. It was in a dark and dreary night 
that I thus hastened to escape from you, from 
myself, from misery. If you still accuse me on 
the plea of not having visited Langesalze, you can 
only do so to avert your own reproaches, and to 
escape the conviction that you have treated me 
with unkind neglect. But all this was over, as 
you wrote to Gleim and me, and all consigned to 
oblivion. I forgot the past ; I wept with tenderness. 
I rejoiced like a guileless child at the thought of 
seeing you again. At this moment the most ur- 
gent necessity compelled me to commence my 
journey, and to inflict on myself the most bitter 
disappointment. 

And now, what more shall I say, my Schmidt ? 
I believe, indeed, you are still friendly ', but not 
always my friend \ only at times, when you reflect 
that there exists not the human being who loves 
you more truly than Klopstock. For myself, my 
Schmidt, I shall never cease to cherish for you the 
sentiments of attachment I have so long professed ; 
for me there is a voice of nature that speaks 
within my bosom, and that can never speak in 
vain. Oh ! holy voice — still let me listen to thy 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIEND9. 137 

soft tones — and still let the grateful strain chear 
me during the dreary pilgrimage, which I shall 
now pursue alone, till all be accomplished. Dur- 
ing every change I still remain unaltered and un- 
alterable, and must cordially subscribe myself, 
most your friend, your 

Klopstock. 



LETTER XXXVIII. 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

August 8th. 

For heaven's sake, my Gleim, why will you vie 
in unkindness with Schmidt and his more obdurate 
sister? and how is it possible you should have so little 
consideration for my tranquillity ? There could 
scarcely be a longer interval of silence if I lived 
in America, and the Atlantic rolled between us. 
I little expected such treatment (at least from 
you). And oh ! how proud I am, (if proud I can 
be with the most poignant sense of wretchedness) 
that I surpass you all so much in love and friend- 
ship. I write in bitterness of heart. I have lately 
been employed in transcribing the correspondence 
with Schmidt. The task is finished, and now may 
I apply to Gleim the very language I have ad- 
dressed to Schmidt. The time must come, yes, 
(I predict it with mournful confidence) the time 



138 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

will come, when you shall all remember with re- 
gret, how dearly I have loved, and how ill I have 
been requited by the objects of my affection. 



LETTER XXXIX* 

Klopstock, the Father, to Gleim. 

Quedlinburg, August l7tb. 

My worthy secretary and dear friend, 

Suffer me to give you a hint respecting the fu- 
ture conduct* to be observed towards my son — 
aid me to burst his bonds asunder. It is the 
noblest proof you can give of friendship— the ster- 
ling gold, the full carat. Why will he submit to 
a humiliation and debasement so contrary to the 
feelings of nature ? Why throw away a jewel on 
one so little able to perceive its value ? He must 
cease to shape the world according to his old aca- 
demical ideas, unless he would share the fate of 
the Englishman, who has been six times deceived, 
and is still subject to delusion and disappoint- 
ment. 

Earthly felicity is too surely a contradiction — 
happiness belongs not to the rude clime of human 
life. May he but be able to support his lot ! 

* Klopstock, the father, alludes in this letter to his son's at- 
tachment to Miss Schmidt. 



&LOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 



LETTER XL. 



130 



Gleim to Klopstock. 

Iden^ September, 175i. 

I should have to reproach myself with the great- 
est crime of my life, if either from negligence or 
indifference, or any more culpable motive, I had 
forborne to reply to your last letter. When you 
conjured me, my dear Klopstock, to shew you 
less tenderness, you guessed too truly the cause 
of my silence. But still you will ask why I did 
not write on the receipt of your last letter ? Why 
I did not then, at least, explain the reasons of my 
former repugnance ? And this too, dear Klop- 
stock, was impossible* On receiving your letter, 
(which I should scarcely have endured to read to 
the end, but from the secret persuasion that you 
would soon disclaim the unjust suspicions of my 
friendship) on glancing over its contents, my 
first impulse was to hasten to Quedlinburg, to 
entreat your father, or Cramer, to write that ex- 
planation I was so unwilling to give. Yet no 
sooner was I arrived than my resolution failed. I 
could not bring myself to avow the object for 
Which I came, and returned to Halberstadt with a 
determination to make one desperate effort to sur- 
mount my repugnance ; but it was in vain that I 
took up the pen, I knew not how to begin, nor how 



140 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

to proceed. Whilst I was thus struggling with 
myself, Schmidt came to me, dear Klopstock, 
to enquire if I had written. I replied, it is ab- 
solutely impossible ; I love him too much to in- 
flict pain ; he is a thousand times dearer to me 
than to you ; on you, therefore, should the task 
devolve ; and from this moment I shall disclaim 
your friendship, if you hesitate to perform your 
duty. Schmidt desisted from his previous im- 
portunity, and solemnly promised to write as 
soon as he should have arrived in Berlin. He 
staid with me but two days, and then com- 
menced his journey, accompanied by your old 
pupil Weiss, on whose account he means to reside 
there half a year. 

On the following day (2d of September) I came 
to this place. Colonel Canneberg is no less desir- 
ous to give me pleasure than his admirable wife, 
a woman worthy to have transcribed the Messiah. 
But in the midst of pleasure gardens, promenades, 
&c. I am unable for a single moment to estrange 
my thoughts from Klopstock. There exists not 
the being who loves you more sincerely than I do. 
Of this even you will soon be convinced j and 
when you have thus repaired your former injustice, 
my soul shall again rejoice as in a song of jubilee. 

Of my visit to Langesalze, we will talk the first 
night we spend together. Schmidt complained 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 141 

that he could not observe a smile on my face, and 
did jiot once discover Gleim ; he had never known 
such an altered being, and was unable to account 
for the transformation. 



LETTER XLL 

To Gleim. 

Copenhagen, September 14. 

Yesterday, my Gleim, I received, and to day I 
reply to your letter - 9 you will perhaps be surprised 
that I have been able to gain so much composure, 
and I know myself too well to trust implicitly to 
such appearances of strength and tranquillity ; I 
am now perhaps calm, because this last stroke had 
been long foreseen, and was preceded by many 
painful conflicts, and because I would fain chear 
the friend, who is so generously suffering for my 
sake. 

Pcete, non dolet, said Arria, for the sake of Pse- 
tus. Ah Gleim, how dear must you be to me, 
when even that last letter which to you appeared so 
dreadful, was to me but sorrowful, and I love you 
enough to endure even sorrow, when by you in- 
flicted. — From Schmidt I have not yet heard, 
though by a letter from Fanny, I am again ap- 



142 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

prised of his intention of writing. Had the sha- 
dow of a hope remained, I should have been more 
shocked by your intelligence, but can you not 
forestall some part of our future conversation ? 
will you not at least give me the first night of your 
visit to Langesalze ? Yet, I am not ungrateful, — I 
will not persist in the claim if it should be too 
painful to my noble friend ; for myself, I have not 
only solicitude but courage to sustain me in the task. 
I have already answered Fanny in a letter 
which began in a composed and even chearful 
strain ; by degrees my heart kindled with its 
theme, and I at length closed with these words, 
" on the evening that I received your letter, I 
forced my soul from its deep melancholy, and 
looking up to heaven, exclaimed, why am I thus 
restless and desolate ? Why am I thus doomed 
to suffer, and so bitterly to taste of misery ? Startled 
by these suggestions, I cast down mine eyes, 
abashed and irresolute— and during the pause — • 
a new train of ideas came into my mind, of a cha- 
racter so different from my accustomed thoughts, 
that I was almost tempted to believe they were 
the inspirations of my better genius, and with 
awe ineffable resigned myself to those mysterious 
whispers, whilst thus the voice spake within me — 
And must thou so soon begin to breathe impatient 
murmurs? Cast but one glance, as far as the 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 143 

glance of mortal foresight can penetrate — a sin- 
gle step beyond the grave — knowest thou not thy 
proper vocation ? It was to exhibit an example 
of virtue such as is worthy to aspire to the 
adoration and imitation of imperishable perfec- 
tion ? it is for this thy heart must be gradually 
unfolded — for this it shall be nourished with tears, 
and instructed by sorrow — and when thou hast 
proved that the sublime duties of submission and 
adoration are dearer to thee than those temporal 
joys whose duration is so little known, when 
thou hast evinced this, thou shalt have obtained 
thy reward. — Go in peace, search no farther — 
beyond the grave* there is a region of bliss — 
an everlasting home, in which dwells love more 
heavenly than it has entered into thy soul to 
conceive. — Now, go in peace, and pray but to 
merit the destined recompence." 

Schmidt has often pronounced me a strange be- 
ing — but, of him, what shall I say ? That he loves 
me less than I love him, is a melancholy truth, of 
which (painful as it is) I should have no right to 
complain ; but that there should be some lines in 
his character (oh! how to acknowledge this) which 
I have hitherto considered as light shades, but 
which are surely something worse than strange — 
this does indeed afflict my soul, and I would fain 
reject the unwelcome conviction — Yet, let me 



144* KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

hope I am mistaken, and that you can force me 
to retract the charge ; how gladly should I confess 
that I had erred in judgment. Tell me with 
what views he attends Weiss to Berlin, and if any 
thing has occurred to promote his felicity ? Alas 
for Schmidt — my dear Schmidt — no, it is impossi- 
ble to suppose him culpable— he can have done 
nothing to sunder the ties of friendship. 

Write to me soon again, withhold not this only 
consolation ; I think my letter has the right ad- 
dress — I expect BernstorfFback on the 25th of this 
month — It will be a real joy to meet him again, as 
it would equally have been to meet Moltka, had 
he been as long absent. I am, dear Gleim— (and 
what better can I be ?) 

Your friend, 

Your Klopstock. 



LETTER XLIL 

To the same. 

Friedensberg, October 31. 

It is to you alone that I can, and will disclose 
the history of my heart— to you who have taken 
in it, the interest of a sincere friend — who have 
listened with indulgence, and repaid me with sym- 
pathy. Not one line have I yet received from 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 145 

Schmidt ; he appears wholly to disclaim me as a 
friend or a correspondent. 

You are fully sensible it is of the last import- 
ance to my future peace to understand, (with what 
views I will not say,) but with what sentiments, 
Fanny has so long rendered me unhappy. — You 
are well aware, my Gleim, that I am as little ca- 
pable as yourself of adopting unjust suspicions, 
and mournful as is my fate, I am more ready to 
become Fanny's advocate than her accuser. But 
surely without partiality to my own cause, I might 
have expected that candour or generosity should 
have prompted her to make Gleim the depository 
of her real sentiments. Either she might have said, 
I love not Klopstock — I cannot love him, (temper- 
ing those cruel words with some sweet soothing 
assurances of friendship, which would have almost 
healed their bitterness) or should she not have 
whispered, I love — (oh! to believe she could thus 
feel even for the moment in which I write) 

* I love him, but you see how little I am in my 

* own power, and that it depends not on my will 
' to make him happy. But let him use every 
' effort to acquire proper consideration in the 
1 eyes of those who have different views of for- 
1 tune — let him do this, and rely on my future 
' gratitude.' What wings would this have given 

h 



146 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS, 

to my steps— what energy would it have imparted 
to my soul ! 

Perhaps, my Gleim, it may be in ydur power 
to remove one of the greatest causes of my present 
inquietude. It has occurred to me that those let- 
ters I sent to Switzerland, (those ill-fated letters 
to which no answers were ever returned) must have 
been partially, perhaps wholly misunderstood, or 
they could not have failed to demonstrate the ar- 
dour and sincerity of the passion which had even 
reconciled me to the idea of engaging in a mer- 
cantile speculation, a proposal to which no other 
motive could have induced me to listen for a 
single moment. 

By certain expressions which have dropt from 
Schmidt, it appears to me, that on this occasion I 
have been misconceived or misinterpreted. I 
make the remark with the hope that you may be 
able to throw some light on the subject. For the 
love of which I have been so fatally tenacious I 
can now ask but one recompence — for my future 
existence there remains but one solace— all the 
peace and consolation of after life depends oa 
knowing whether Fanny really has a heart, a heart 
that could have sympathized with mine ? And do 
you still doubt? will Gleim say. What can I 
think ? To have been always so cold — so insen- 
sible—so indifferent. — It appears impossible. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS, 147 

I should vainly attempt to describe the present state 
of my feelings — it is one without a name. — I often 
see her in my dreams, and at such moments some 
tender recollections bring tears to mine eyes ; but 
tears afford no relief when there no longer exists 
a hope — to be destroyed. Fanny lost — quite lost — 
for is it not too plain that she is without a heart ? 
Ah! Gleim, that thought renders the loss irre- 
parable ; and whilst it compels conviction, I am 
incapable of listening to consolation. c How is it 

* possible (you will often have said to yourself) — 

* how is it possible, that Klopstock should not sum- 
' mon to his aid a noble pride, that he should not 

* combat a weakness so unworthy of his cha- 
8 racter ; that by obtaining a triumph over him- 
6 self, he should not secure the only fair and ho- 
' nourable revenge for so much unrequited love ?' 

I have often asked myself the same question, 
and, alas ! I can still return no answer. 



l2 



148 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS 



LETTER XLIII. 

Schmidt to Gleim. 

Berlin, 7th October. 

You must not scold me, dear Gleim > for not 
having yet written to you ; if you consider in what 
a tumultuous whirl one moves on arriving for the 
first time , in such a capital as Berlin, you will 
have no difficulty in suggesting my excuse. A 
series of new acquaintance, excursions, balls, wed- 
ding festivals, have consumed the greater part of 
my time. When I could snatch a moment from 
such engagements* I was unfitted by previous dis- 
sipation for employing it as I wished, and I have 
actually begun four letters to you, without being 
able to finish one of them; there is always so much 
to be said to Gleim, and you know full well how 
little it is my forte to write short letters ! I am 
tempted to smile at the reflexion, that both my 
epistles and my odes labour under the same defect 
as my figure, namely, that of being too long. To 
bring the comparison closer, as I am tall enough 
to be a sort of Fugelman to my companions, so my 
letters might be considered as the Fugelmen of my 
correspondents, who are unhappily not disposed 
to imitate the admirable example. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 149 

I can, however, easily conceive your dissatisfaction 
at not finding the letter you had expected ; perhaps 
I ought to assume some merit on the occasion, 
as having evinced my friendship, by allowing you 
for once the novel pleasure of rinding me in the 
wrong; for you well know that, as far as our 
correspondence is concerned, I am accustomed to 
engross to myself the privilege of being always 
obstinately in the right. — Raillery apart, it is quite 
a different thing whether I write to you or another 
friend, so encroaching is the affection I bear my little 
Gleim,that when I take up the pen I am no longer 
master of myself, but carried far beyond the time 
allotted to the task. 

Le coeur s'occupe du sujet, 
Et l'esprit laisse-la l'ouvrage. 

And now let me hasten to communicate my 
impression of Kleist, though it will be as diffi- 
cult to do justice to my own feelings as to give 
satisfaction to your expectations. I spent a whole 
day in his society at Potsdam, and was delighted 
not only with the writer but the man. It is the 
character of integrity that strikes you first in his 
countenance and deportment, before you have dis- 
covered either the poet or the soldier, (perhaps 
for the honour of our poetical fraternity it might 
be said, that the features of the upright man and 

l 8 




150 KLOPSTOGK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

the bard are precisely the same). Conscious as 
I am that I have rather you than myself to thank 
for Kleist's attentions, I do not deny I could find 
an ungrateful pleasure in rivalling you in his af- 
fections ; but I doubt whether this be possible, for 
you are absolutely his idol, and I cannot tell you 
how much he rose in my veneration, when I dis- 
covered that your portrait was the chosen com- 
panion of his lonely hours, and is indeed the only 
picture that occupies a place in his study. In 
looking at this resemblance, I missed the wonted 
smile which I (you may remember) am so well 
pleased to recognize in your face. It has, how- 
ever, a more poetical aspect, and I was recon- 
ciled to the artist, by the reflexion, that an 
image which is constantly to remain in the temple 
of friendship, ought rather to inspire reverence 
than kindness and affection. 

Kleist shewed me some prose essays, consisting 
of maxims, in the manner of Rouchefaucault, all 
excellent in their way, but tinged too deeply with 
misanthropy ; on which account, I, who am in a 
better humour with the world, ventured to arraign 
the justice of his sentiments. Take no notice of 
this when you write, for I am not sure he would 
approve of my mentioning the subject. 

I come now to our little Ramler, who is by Jupiter 
the first born son of Horace, His emendations of 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 151 

Kleist's Spring are incomparable, and you might 
justly complain that he has hitherto failed to com- 
municate them for your perusal. I am charmed 
with Langemack, whose bon sens and wit, like 
the sun emerging from a cloud, is the more wel- 
come from being unexpected, and soon dissipates 
the prejudice an ungracious exterior had created 
against him. Whence happens it that Sulzer did 
not please my taste ? I have seen him but for half 
a day, when according to Ramler's remark, he 
even surpassed himself. With Bergius and Hempel 
I have conversed so little, that I can only tell you 
I foresee they will please me greatly. I have some 
cause to complain that none of my acquaintance 
have introduced me to Sack. Yet once more, let 
me not forget to mention Walter, with whom I 
have spent most of my time, and who has not only 
wit and taste enough to satisfy the few, but (what I 
value still more,) facility, and good nature to con- 
ciliate the many. 

I can give you no account of a croud of other 
acquaintance, on whom I have looked like a bride 
who from a hundred specimens of dress, selects a 
few for closer observation, then tries on, goes to 
the glass, criticizes and compares, and finally dis- 
misses the finery, of which she keeps but little. 

And now will you be longing to hear something 
L4 



152 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

of my female friends. Patience — you ought to be 
pleased. That the women here possess more men- 
tal and personal attractions than the dames of 
Saxony, and more virtue than they gain credit for 
in Halberstadt, and such little towns, this is very 
evident. 

You really said too little for Miss Dietrich, when 
you merely called her sprightly and agreeable > 
she has an understanding of the first order, and 
the most amiable disposition ; by the way, it 
is whispered that you, provoking female conque- 
ror, durst not venture during your visit to betray 
the least susceptibility to tenderness, lest your 
virtue should be in danger. 

This girl has conceived a high esteem for your 
character, and were you once in our circle, might 
surely smooth some of your difficulties in the choice 
of a wife. 

Of Ramler's love adventure I really know nothing 
worth communicating ; he has perhaps affected to 
give the affair a more serious cast, to have the 
credit of being an enamoured hero. And here, if you 
will allow me to digsess into a reflexion, I would 
observe, to vindicate the nobility of love, that all 
men, whether ardent or frigid, wise or foolish, 
either are, or affect to be, subject to its magnetic 
influence* 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 153 

LETTER XLIV* 

From the same to the same. 

Berlin, 10th October. 

I have something to communicate which gives 
me great regret : a misunderstanding having arisen 
between Sulzer and Ramler on one side, and 
Sucro on the other, which has been attended with 
the usual consequences, that of inducing both par- 
ties to lose sight of justice. You are well aware 
how strongly I was prepossessed in Sucro' s favour, 
and may therefore imagine my surprise and vex- 
ation to find his superior merit so little understood, 
being here admired only for those conversational 
powers which give zest to society. Even Ramler 
himself is not free from this prejudice; and I can 
scarcely extort a patient hearing when I avow my 
own favourable sentiments with the warmth and 
enthusiasm natural to my character. I was 
pained to observe that the first coolness might 
be traced to certain critical strictures on a literaivj 
undertaking, which excited the spirit of ambition 
in one party, and I know not what spirit in the 
other ; but friendship was the mutual sacrifice. Does 
not this almost authorise us to say, that even the 
jbest men have little more than speculative bonte 



154* KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

du cceur, and that there is in the passions, as in 
death, something to bring all men to the same 
level? 

Yet one remark, and I have done. The sen- 
timents of friendship hold in reality but the rank 
of aliens and subalterns in the human heart ; they 
are cherished whilst they coalesce with nearer in- 
terests, or clash not with those stronger passions 
which are less generous, and consequently more 
properly indigenous to mankind. 

Alas ! my Gleim, are not these reflexions in the 
very spirit of misanthropy ? 



LETTER XLV. 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

Copenhagen, 30th October, 1 75 1 . 

I might again accuse you, dearest Gleim, of 
neglect ; there is now no doubt, no suspence, and 
you continue to aggravate my sorrow by your 
silence. If you missed my first letter directed to 
Colonel Cannebergs, you must at least have receiv- 
ed the last, from which you would learn that the 
former was awaiting your arrival. I could almost 



I 
KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 155 

fancy myself too angry for reproach. Are you 
not aware how much I am devoted to you, and 
how willingly I would persuade myself of our mu- 
tual attachment ? Could you not comprehend 
the feeling that prompts me still to ask for tidings 
of Fanny? and might you not now venture to 
communicate the truths you have hitherto with* 
held from mistaken tenderness? How unhappy 
shall I be if you have not already written, and 
if I shall still be doomed to count the days 
and hours till a letter can arrive. But of what 
would I have you write ? You can surely guess 
that it is soothing to receive the assurance of your 
commiseration, and that it is necessary to my ex- 
istence to hear of Fanny ! I still love, nor can 
I cease to love - 7 and since she so seldom favours 
me with a letter, you must for my sake engage 
her to write to you, and then transcribe for me 
whatever she has written. 

Such is the boon I would owe to Gleim, and 
surely it is not too much to hope that he will scat- 
ter this poor twilight gleam of comfort on my 
dreary, desolate existence. Conceive if you can, 
the anguish of a heart like mine, when every 
murmur is suspended and every agitation sup- 
pressed, I sigh, but I no longer weep. — On 
recollecting the moments when I was accustomed 
to shed tears, I perceive there was still some 



156 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

latent hope, and that the melancholy I then ex- 
perienced was a luxurious sentiment compared 
with my present despondence. I see her in my 
dreams, I even see her more often than before, 
and constantly does she approach me with a cold 
yet not averted aspect. It was but last night that 
she thus appeared before me ; her brother too, 
methought, was present, but spoke as little as he 
writes ; yet his looks expressed indifference rather 
than aversion, and he turned from me to converse 
with strangers, of whom I had no remembrance. 

Often have I wished that I had never seen her — 
never learnt to pronounce her name ; I might then 
have attached myself to another object, and per- 
haps tasted the supreme felicity of mutual love. 
But it is now impossible ! There are here many 
handsome girls, and I have scarcely perceived 
their beauty ; nay, such is my indifference to their 
attractions, that I see them with as little interest 
as if they were of my own sex. Not one of them 
has the power to extort from me even those slight 
attentions which are the first symptoms of prefer- 
ence ; my heart is steeled to every tender impres- 
sion. 

Fail not, my dear Gleim, to send me Raro- 
ler's and Spalding's address. I have received an 
answer from Bodmer, who mentions among other 
things, that a lady having translated for Voltaire 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 15/ 

the finest passages from Haller, the French wit 
exclaimed, " Oh que cela est pitoyable f" I love 
my nation too well to submit with patience to a fo- 
reign yoke. 



LETTER XLVL 

Schmidt to Gleim. 

Berlin, October 18th. 

You have to thank me for this quartette epistle, 
dear Gleim. It occurred to me that such a com- 
position must afford you peculiar pleasure, and I 
immediately assembled all these worthy messieurs 
to concur in the undertaking. You know how 
anxious I am to contribute to your satisfaction ; do 
me justice, therefore, and thank me for all you shall 
receive. 

Your 

Schmidt. 

Marnier writes. 

It is time, dear Gleim, that an epistolary com- 
merce should be established between us. I begin 
by writing to you on the subject of your future 
beloved, a subject in reality less difficult than it 



158 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

appears to be. Schmidt prognosticates that in the 
grand article of marriage you will imitate one of 
the seven sages, called Thales, who on being im- 
portuned by his mother to make choice of a wife, 
exclaimed, " it is too soon." The discreet mamma 
suffered a whole year to elapse, and then returned 
to the charge ; the son shifted his ground, and 
replied, "it is too late." But, dearest Gleim, 
these are subjects on which we can best dispute 
viva voce. Schmidt protests it is a breach of 
good manners to write so much. I must cease, 
were it only to appease his murmurs. 



I am allowed to write but four lines, too little, 
surely, considering that this is the first time I have 
assured you of my sincere attachment. Every 
body is talking and buzzing around me, whilst 
Weiss looks over my shoulder to see that I do not 
exceed the measure prescribed ; I must therefore 
break off, hoping soon to tell you I am unalterably 
your 

Langemack. 






KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 159 

Weiss writes. 

Only see, my dearest Mr. Gleim, how little re- 
spect is paid to youth ! I am expected to content 
myself with this pitiful space. I who love you— 
I who love you so much, and am more ambitious 
than all of them to be considered your darling 

Weiss. 



These messieurs are more wary than I expected, 
for I imagined they would vie with each other in 
pretensions to wit, which would have afforded me 
a glorious opportunity for turning them into deri- 
sion ; but they have overreached me by writing in 
a simple, natural style, and appear to be no less 
affectionately disposed towards you than your 

Schmidt. 

Rainier writes. 

I resume the pen, but I shall write as closely as 
possible, to leave room for my friends to criticize 
and dispute on their several pretensions to taste 
and elegance. 

Schmidt is somewhat too fond of mystery and 
concealment ; he often recites verses without 



160 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

mentioning himself, and very adroitly contrives to 
palm them on some other author ; yet by all this 
elaborate address, extorts neither more nor less 
of criticism than he would receive for his own 
acknowledged productions. — I have used the first 
word that came to my pen; but I ought to 
recast the sentence, and say, that he lends his 
laurels to another bard. If he knew what I 
was saying, he would overwhelm me with de- 
nunciations in that favourite sentence, It is a 
breach of good manners to write in company. 
This very sentence he is now vociferating with 
such energy, that I begin to lose patience, and 
must certainly either out-talk or beat him. 

Ramler, 



Mr. Schmidt abuses me before I begin — eveiy 
one is railing at his companions, and complaining 
that he is defrauded of his share in the letter. I 
must yield to the torrent, and only say I am your 
brow-beaten 

Weiss. 

Schmidt writes. 

Heaven be praised that Weiss has at length blun- 
dered through all he ought in policy to have con- 
cealed. Now shall the remaining space be all 



- KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. l6l 

mine own ; and so tenacious am I of the preroga- 
tive, that I protest I would not yield a single line 
even to a female pen. I have received your re- 
proachful letter, and am not a little amused by 
imagining the compunction with which you would 
not fail to be visited on the arrival of my three 
sheets and a half, accompanied by the Bramin 
inspire. 

We think and talk of you continually. What 
can he be doing, the poor solitary Gleim, so far 
from his friends, and with no solace from a beloved 
maid ! Feasts and festivals cannot so completely 
engross his mind, but that sometimes in his lonely 
hours, he must sigh for our society ! ' Observe him 
■ in the solitude of his study, leaning on his arm, 
c plunged in thought, yet not lost in abstraction, 

* for whilst his eye rolls but on vacancy, his active 

* fancy recalls the images of his absent friends, and 

* thus fills up the pensive scene ! * First, behold 
4 Klopstock, with feelings almost too sublime for 

* participation ; next follows Kleist, whose heart is 

* open as his mien, and who hates the world for the 

* sake of his friends; he is accompanied by Ramler, 
« in whose eyes you may read a poet's dream of 
' love. But who is he, so fluent in speech, so arch, 

* This passage is (in the original) in verse. 
M 



162 KXOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

* so audacious, alternately sportive and melancholy, 
< simple as a child, yet not without some wit and 
6 talent, some fire and enthusiasm ? You are by this 
6 time perfectly aware that this eccentric personage 

* is called Schmidt ; and observe, he is unlike your 
' other friends, who for a little while flit before 

* your eyes, and then vanish from you like midnight 
' spectres. Scarcely have you rejoiced in their pre- 

* sence, when the approach of your housekeeper's 
' sober step destroys the whole illusion. Roused 

* from the reverie, you complain with bitterness 
' that you ase deserted, and, ask why you are thus 
' left to ruminate in solitude ? Be consoled, my 
( Gleim, Schmidt still hovers round the scene, still 

* lingers near you, and for your sake alone.' 

Schmidt. 



Ramler writes. 

Be a republican, or I renounce you, Schmidt, 
We tolerate not a Cesar. 






KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 163 

LETTER XLVII. 

Schmidt to Gkim. 

Berlin, 30tb October. 

You must really be ungrateful, to have never 
thanked me for the quartette epistle, when you 
have written to Ramler on the occasion, with- 
out vouchsafing a single acknowledgment to me, 
to whom alone you were indebted for that motley 
composition. So far is desert in this world. 

Sic vos, non vobis mellificatis apes. 

You have also written to Sulzer ; a circumstance 
of which I was apprized by the thrushes I partook 
of at his table. I was so piqued with your ingra- 
titude, that but for the sin of revenging it on the 
poor harmless birds, I should have refused to touch 
a morsel. 

You must surely have been bewildered by the 
croud of epic poems which during the present 
month have poured forth like grasshoppers from 
the press. Klopstock's Epopea has produced 
a most numerous progeny, who, as Bodmer would 
say, rush in swarms from the hive. Ramler pre- 
dicts that it will soon be as discreditable to write, 
as not to have written, an epic poem, 

m @ 



164* KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

LETTER XLVIII. 

KlopstocJc to Gleim. 

Copenhagen, April 9th, J 752. 

I welcomed your letter this morning, ere I had 
left my bed, and had with it a long and confiden- 
tial tete-a-tete. You might with some reason anti- 
cipate my reproaches ; but in future, my dear tru- 
ant, but ever kind, ever faithful friend, sin no 
more, and all shall be forgiven. 

But where to begin ? or rather, where to end ? 
Strange as it may seem, there is a total revolution 
in my feelings, and I am no longer an outcast 
from happiness. The fact itself will be interesting 
to Gleim, and to that alone must I now confine 
my intelligence. To trace the cause or describe 
the progress of my restoration, is more than I can 
at present undertake to communicate. I may, 
however, premise, that it belongs not to my na- 
ture to be happy or miserable by halves ; hence 
I so long remained the victim of sorrow and de- 
spondence, and hence having once discarded me- 
lancholy, I am ready to welcome happiness. You 
will be tempted to ask, by what agent the revo- 
lution has been effected ? But once mote remem- 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 165 

ber, I am pledged to silence ; and it is enough for 
you to know, that I no longer claim your pity, 
and that I invite you to share as fully of my joy as 
you have participated in my grief. 

You tell me of , shall I name him in this 

letter ? No, I will not hazard my relapse. You 
mention something I am unwilling to believe — 
perhaps we are mistaken. If he loved me as much 
as I still love him, it must have been painful to him 
to write at this moment. It is difficult to conceive 
the nature of my offence. Once, indeed, it was 
my crime to be unhappy, but of that I am now 
acquitted. Had he been disposed to visit Den- 
mark, with what open arms should I have received 
him ! But I am not destined to enjoy so sweet a 
satisfaction. In short, I am weary of forming 
conjectures, and have no alternative but to wait 
behind the scenes till his long monologue shall 
end. 

You may remember, my friend, it was an ho- 
nourable feature in Pope's character, that he never 
celebrated a reigning favourite, but reserved his 
praises for independent patriots, or discarded 
statesmen, for those who had never basked in a 
Court, or who had voluntarily retired to the phi- 
losophic shade. It is this part of his conduct that 
so strongly inspires my esteem, and renders him 
the idol of my imagination. 

m 3 



166 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

In addressing a poem to the King on his 
Queen's death, I simply followed the impulse 
of feeling of which it was but the spontaneous 
effusion.* Jealous of my honour, and anxious 
to escape the suspicion which Mr. Sack sup- 
poses me to have incurred, I had long resisted 
the dictates of my own heart, and disappointed 
the expectations of my Danish friends, when I 
took the resolution to communicate my scruples 
to Count Bernstorff, who patiently examined, 
and finally obviated them to my perfect con- 
viction. You must love this great man, who 
deserves to possess the esteem of such a mind as 
yours. How comprehensive is his understanding, 
what intuitive wisdom in his decisions! what 
rectitude in all his actions 1 He has this winter 
married a young lady from Holstein, who reads 
and relishes Sevigne. I commonly dine with 
them once a week, and am frequently admitted to 
the Count's library, which is also his cabinet. He 
has purchased beautiful editions of the English 
poets, and I have for some weeks been studying 
English in Young. 

I am also on terms of intimacy with Count 
Rosenberg, the Imperial Envoy, an excellent 

* The Princess Louisa of England, a daughter of George the 
Second. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. l6j 

man, in the flower of life, rich in social feel- 
ings, and a passionate admirer of English litera- 
ture. It would not be difficult to extend my ac- 
quaintance with the diplomatic corps, if I chose 
to depart from my rule of waiting to be sought. 
I am a frequent visitor to Count Ranzow, who 
has an extraordinary understanding, and, in com- 
mon with us, is so devoted to English, that he 
has even suffered himself to be converted by 
Young, because he is an Englishman. The Ran- 
zow family have long been celebrated for their 
talents, and for an almost too singular cast of cha- 
racter. (A Ranzow without wit would be a pro- 
digy)- 

What would you say to my visiting you this 
summer? and if Kleist and Ramler could be 
drawn to our party, how delightful would be the 
meeting! All this is within the limit of possi- 
bility ; and yet the good old friend of the good 
old Mecenas says, 

Quid sit futurum eras, fuge quaerere. 

Ah, my dear Gleim, if I had not long since re- 
nounced the luxury of wishing, how earnestly 
should I at this moment wish for the privilege of 
transporting myself to you ! 



m i 



168 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 



LETTER XLIX. 

Klopstock to Cramer. 

Hamburgh, July 3d. 

I know not whether this letter will find my 
Cramer at Blankenburgh, which I hear he has 
been lately visiting ; but I feel peculiar pleasure 
in the idea of greeting him in that smiling region 
of poetry, which our elder bards have consecrated 
to immortality. I know not a scene that could 
better harmonize with the intelligence I am about 
to communicate, and which, if Giseke did not 
betray his trust, will, I think, occasion you no 
less surprise than pleasure. But where to begin, 
as was said long since by the wise Ulysses, who 
had not half so pleasing a story to relate ? I re- 
collect a simple distich, which may serve for the 
prologue of my tale. 

I love my Clara, and Clara loves me. 

•Poor dear Cramer, you are just as wise as before, 
for how should you guess who Clara is ? With 
the addition of another word, indeed, the problem 
would be solved, and that word I promise, you 
shall discover in some corner of my letter. In the 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 169 

mean time I must whisper, that towards the end 
of last year, I suspected my passion for Clara, and 
as this suspicion gained ground, could not always 
so far command my feelings, but that they occa- 
sionally escaped in my letters. At length, I could 
no longer suffer in silence ; and here you ought to 
read our correspondence, of which I will only say 
that Clara writes just as Sevigne would have writ- 
ten, had she corresponded in her youth with the 
man she loved. At length then, I ventured to 
avow my sentiments, and since last December I 
have not been without hopes, though mingled with 
the thousand doubts and uncertainties which create 
the solicitudes of love ; but it was not till within a 
few days that this suspence was wholly removed, 
and that I was permitted to confide in my own 
felicity. 

And now what more shall I say, my sweet Clara? 
Say it for me. Suppose our Cramer sitting there, 
and listening eagerly to our tale ; speak you but 
two words, and tell me what I shall write. 

' Klopstock will take no denial ; but that I 
< must tell you how much in the short time that 
"' I have suffered him to believe I loved ! (for ho- 
' nestly, my affection might be dated long before) 
1 how much in that short interval I have learnt to 
' outdo him in love !' 



170 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

To outdo — what does the girl mean ? This is 
the constant subject of debate between us, and 
one on which I most tenaciously maintain my pre- 
eminence. Yes, in love I am surely incompara- 
ble! but this girl fancies, because she is called 
Clara, she may assume to herself whatever merit 
she pleases j and truly I cannot but admire her 
audacity in bringing forward the disputed point 
the first time of addressing you. 

And now let me speak for myself. How blest, 
how supremely blest have I been for some days — a 
whole month of unalloyed felicity. I should not 
conceive this to be possible, but that I feel it to be 
true. Once more, I am nothing ; the overflow- 
ings of joy are as little to be expressed as the agony 
of grief. If you, however, can tolerate this wild 
carol of the heart, I can chat with you a little 
longer. 

And now shall I enumerate my Clara's names ? 
She is called my girl — my Babet, and Clara, and 
half a hundred synonyms, my Clarissa, my Be- 
loved, (the favourite appellation) and lastly, to sum 
up all in one word, she is my Moller. Yesterday 
there came on an inexpressibly sweet little word be- 
tween Moller and beloved. Shall I tell you this too, 
my Cramer ?* No. It is time to close a letter which 

* This name must have been Meta. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 171 

has already run out to an unconscionable length, 
considering that my Clara is at this moment sitting 
at the same table. 



LETTER L. 

Klopstock to Gleirri. 

Hamburgh, 8th July, 1752. 

My dearest Gleim, 

In the first place I refer you to Cramer's letter* 
which will, I think, repay you for the trouble of 
going to Quedlinburgh ; in the next place I must 
tell you, that I am happy beyond all expression ; 
that I love the little Moller, of whom I wrote to 
you a year ago, that she returns my affection, and is 
the loveliest and dearest of her sex. This includes 
all I have to say, and all my Gleim will wish to 
know. 

Postscript by Meta Moller. 

Would you ever have suspected that the Moller 
of Hamburgh should be this happy being? No- 
no, never could you have supposed that Klopstock 
would chuse such a simple girl ! Oh ! if you but 



172 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

knew how he is adored — how it exceeds every 
thing, even Klopstock' s own heart, yet not much 
neither, for indeed he loves me truly ! Are you 
not surprised that I write this to you, who do not 
even know me ? but I cannot resist the impulse — 
Now that Klopstock is gone out, and can I no lon- 
ger talk to him, it is such a sweet privilege to talk 
of him — and this is it — he is here— he returns — 
and I am 

Your servant, 

Meta Moller. 

You must not scold Klopstock. 

Non, non, il ne faut plus ecrire. Mesdames 
les Sevignes vous tourmentez bien, les pauvres 
hommes, qui se melent aussi d' ecrire des lettres. 
Ah, mon cher Gleim, voila done ma resolution 
prise. Je n'ecrirai plus le Messie. Tous mes 
odes sont finies. 

My dear Gleim, I vented my agony in French, 
since the question was of Sevigne. 

Klopstock, 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 173 



LETTER LI. 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

Quedlinburg, 31st July, 1752. 

If you knew how your general chapter has an- 
noyed me ! It is for so short a time that I can 
hope to stay in your neighbourhood, and I have 
such an ardent desire to spend some part of it with 
my own family. Come to me, if possible ; I must 
positively enjoy you more than one day, though 
you are too indifferent to worldly things to 
wish for more of my society. But, after all, 
shall friendship, such as ours, be classed with 
worldly things ? Write at least, if you will not 
come. 

Klopstock. 



174* KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

LETTER LIL 

Meta to Klopstock. 

8th August, 1752. 

Return, my Klopstock, return — let me reclaim 
thee as my hostage, or shall I say my master ? 
No matter which — if I but sit by thee, and listen 
to thee, I can be well pleased to remain thy cap- 
tive> 

Oh ! how dull and dreary and tedious have I 
found these days of absence ; not that I had to 
complain of unkindness — no, it was not that I 
suffered, but that I was not permitted to enjoy. 
Nobody talked of thee. I was in a beautiful coun- 
try, and how little it availed me, since I saw it 
not with thee. I was in what is called good com- 
pany; but since I have tasted of thy thoughts, 
and become familiar with thy perfections, I have 
lost all relish for inferior society, and find an inter- 
course with ordinary beings irksome and insupport- 
able. I was dead to the gaiety of my companions, 
and though there were some young foreigners, who 
would fain have drawn me into conversation, I had 
scarcely the complaisance to reply to their questions. 
Was I to blame for sullenness ? Oh ! when I no 
longer heard thy voice, nor was even permitted to 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 175 

pronounce thy name, what remained but to think 
of thee ; and how could I bear to part from that 
only solace ! Had they but left me to myself, 
had they allowed me to enjoy my own quiet medi- 
tations, I could still have been almost happy, but 
some officious stranger was for ever invading my 
sanctuary. The dismal weather kept us all to- 
gether, and having no better resource than cards, 
we played from morning till night, nor did I then 
regain my liberty. I slept with another lady, and 
though I constantly carried in my pocket a pencil 
and a sheet of paper, could never find an oppor- 
tunity to write a single line. Imagine how this 
must have aggravated my chagrin a*d impatience ! 
Oh, how poor is all without thee, and with thee 
how sweetly is the absence of every other pleasure 
supplied ! 

Fain would I persuade myself it must cost me 
some effort to renounce all to follow thee — for 
methinks I should be proud to make some little 
sacrifice for thy dear sake ; but, in truth, I can 
claim no such honours. The amusements I shall 
relinquish are not only indifferent to me, but irk- 
some in the extreme. Here, in thy absence, with 
a thousand changes of pursuit, a single day drags 
so heavily, that I could almost fancy it a livelong 
year ; whilst with thee, without ever crossing the 
threshold, or casting a single glance towards the 



176 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

world beyond it, the moments pass so sweetly, 
that the day scarcely seems to have been a single 
hour. Oh, return, my Klopstock, return, that 
is all I can say, 

What will be our privilege, when the lapse of 
time shall have cemented our sacred union, and 
we shall have passed years together without having 
experienced lassitude and languor for a single day I 
It is true our pleasures must lie in a small com- 
pass, for we shall find them in each other ; but 
yet shall there be a something better than our- 
selves — an affection dearer than friendship, an in- 
fluence the world cannot give — to inspirit, to ani- 
mate us, and supply a constant source of interest 
and delight. Am I not right, Klopstock ? 

I would reply to your letter, if my soul was not 
too full. It is so long since I wrote, and I now feel 
I have so much to say, that I cannot bring myself 
to. order or measure. Do you chide me for being- 
tedious ? no, you will not chide, so I may give 
free course to my pen. 

Whilst I was at Stollingen, it was one of my 
sweetest anticipations, that on my return I should 
find a letter from you. Imagine my transports, 

when I found two, and one for the , which 

was almost as precious as mine own. Thou, sweet- 
est bard — long was I thy votary ere I ventured to 
think thee my beloved. Hear what oblations I 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 177 

will offer for every line, of which I have been 
the theme. Yet — no, for all thou hast ever written 
thou mayst claim, and shalt receive my worship. 
For the odes, first — I bow to the ground, and 
make my low obeisance ; for the Messiah I kiss 
thy feet ; for every line inscribed to Fanny I hail 
thy name. Ah ! Klopstock, often do tears steal 
from mine eyes when I reflect on all you were con- 
demned to suffer in those hours of sadness and 
despondence. I can but too easily comprehend 
what were then your bitter feelings. Would it were 
my privilege to bestow a recompence ! I must not 
yet aspire to such felicity — it is a privilege reserved 
for the wife, and at some future period may be 
mine. Yes, my love, I dare challenge you to 
have even wished for a kinder wife than you shall 
find in me. And now am I tempted to relate an 
anecdote of my childhood, with which you may 
perhaps be amused. 

I have already told you, that at thirteen my 
character was nearly formed ; this at least is cer- 
tain, however you may be disposed to smile at my 
wisdom, that I began seriously to speculate on 
future life, and to sketch plans of conduct for the 
single or married state. I shall not trouble you 
with my various judicious schemes, on the suppo- 
sition that I should remain a spinster ; but on the 

N 



178 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

chance of becoming a wife, I made many deep- 
reflections, and composed, perfectly to my own 
satisfaction, a system of domestic management, 
including the care of my household and the edu- 
cation of my children. But, above all, I delighted 
to trace to myself the proper mode of conduct to 
be observed towards' a husband. And then, in 
these meditative reveries, did I imagine myself 
united to precisely such a being as I have since 
discovered to exist, when charmed with the pic- 
ture of my own fancy, I exclaimed to my compa- 
nions, a husband should always be treated with a 
certain douceur, but this douceur must be wholly 
unstudied, and flow so freely from the heart, that 
it should be impossible not to shew it in every look 
and accent. — Doubtless, my Klopstock, it is only 
with such looks, such accents, I can converse with 
thee. — What say you to this raisonnement of thir- 
teen ? I still adhere to the same principle, though 
I have learnt to abridge the explanation, and to 
sum up all, in this obvious truth, the wife must 
love her husband. 

See how I prattle, and with as much assurance 
as if I was leaning on your shoulder, and every 
other moment stealing from your eyes an ap- 
proving glance ! But in your last, you have so 
sweetly, encouraged me to prattle, that I am 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 179 

now bold enough to say any thing, so impli- 
citly can I rely on your constancy and love. I 
would fain know whether my affection were capa- 
ble of being increased. I should wish to think so; 
but then must I also think I am capable of loving 
more at one moment than another j and this I feel 
loth to believe. 

I love your parents and sisters so dearly, that 
I almost suspect I prefer them to my own. 
It touched my heart, that your father so kindly 
inquired whether religion constituted my su- 
preme delight? I thank God, you could an- 
swer the question with a safe conscience. Will 
you not, indeed, soon return? I grieve to 
draw you from your own family, but yet should 
I grieve still more, if you were by them drawn 
from me. 

Meta Moixer. 



w % 



180 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 



LETTER LIIL 

Meta Moller to Gleim. 

Hamburgh, 3d November. 

You might v/ell think I should not write to you; 
but my indisposition affords some excuse, and KJop- 
stock's presence is an ample sanction for beginning 
a correspondence; prepare, therefore, to receive 
a letter, on what subject you will easily guess ; 
indeed, I should be wholly incapable of writing 
on any other. How happy am I — how supremely 
happy in Klopstock's love ! Yes, my whole soul 
is now poured forth — I can proceed no farther. 
I have an ineffable consciousness of felicity and af- 
fection ; but where find words to express such 
feelings — Klopstock himself has them not. I am, 
indeed, not quite so happy as I was a few weeks 
ago, when he was always with me ; he is now 
often absent. But I submit with patience to the 
occasional separation, for it is not inevitable — and 
do I not know that he will come to us again — and 
do I not feel that it is necessary to my health to 
keep my mind tranquil ? and how sacred is the 
motive to watch over my own welfare, when I 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 1$1 

cherish myself for his sake ! Then I am rewarded 
for these efforts by his correspondence ; and 
though a letter is poor, compared with the ori- 
ginal, it is better than any thing else this world can 
give. 

Will you not soon write to me, Mr. Gleim, 
of some beloved maid, or do you persist in the 
idea, that a girl must have been created for you 
alone? Well, cherish that thought, and be as- 
sured you shall some day meet with the object of 
your pursuit ! Since Klopstock and I have dis- 
covered each other, I take it for granted that every 
one may find his proper counterpart. It is thus 
I encourage my female friends, who since they 
have known the author of the Messiah, seem to 
despair of ever meeting with another Klopstock. 
But how little did I think when I first heard of his 
existence from Giesecke, and knew him only by 
his odes and the Messiah — how little did I then 
believe he had the very heart I secretly aspired to 
possess — still less could I dare to hope that heart 
was destined to unite with mine. How widely 
were we separated, not only by place and con- 
nexion, but by peculiar circumstances, which 
seemed to form a gulph between us. Oh ! doubt 
not but I shall some day visit your home with 
Klopstock, when I shall find you, like him, happy 
and beloved. 

n3 



182 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

Shall I confess I am half angry you did not ac- 
company your friend to Hamburgh ; for ought I 
not to have seen his Gleim, whom he perhaps 
holds almost as dear as Clara? And who knows but 
on the journey, or in our circle, you might have 
discovered your other self! We have in Ham- 
burgh many amiable girls, one of whom might 
have been selected for your love. 

Your are so much Klopstock's friend, and there- 
fore mine, that I do not hesitate to use with you as 
with him—the subscription of 



Your 



Clara 
to be 
Klopstock, 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 183 

LETTER LIV. 

Schmidt to Gleim* 

24th January, 1753. 

I cannot but admire our dear Klopstock's invin- 
cible propensity to love, having just learnt from 
his sister the new romance, which has led me into 
many sapient reflexions on his extraordinary des- 
tiny. Surely, he and I were born under the 
same planet ; we are both so liable to tender 
impressions, that we seem, in this respect at least, 
to have but one soul. Let me here whisper, that 
if I did not religiously abstain from pleasantry on 
the subject of love and marriage, I should be 
tempted to retaliate by a little raillery for the se- 
verity with which he has sometimes condemned 
my sportive sallies. But, hush — not one word of 
this mischievous impulse. I have written to Miss 
Moller with all the seriousness and propriety the 
occasion demanded, and shall hope to be favoured 
with an answer. 

What say you, dear Gleim, to this universal 
propensity to enter the conjugal pale. Here is 
Klopstock on the eve of marriage \ Schlegel too 

N 4 



184 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

is already married, and to a girl with whom he has 
every reason to be satisfied. Shall we also, yourself 
from inclination, and myself from — really, I know 
not what sentiment — shall we look around us to 
discover a future helpmate ? Be assured, we shall 
not fail to meet with candidates for our affections. 
We poets are artists, and by the creative power 
of the imagination, can mould every object to our 
wishes ; and it seldom happens, but that our mis- 
tresses are indebted to us for their highest per- 
fections. 

You promised to bespeak for me Miss Moller's 
good opinion, and I shall expect you to keep your 
w r ord. 

Why did you not mention the name of the 
author of Chess, a poem that in style of composit- 
ion is incomparable. Let me know whether it is an 
imitation of Vida, or of the 15th canto of the 
Marino Adonis. 

Schmidt. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 185 

LETTER LV. 

Meta Moller to Gleim.. 

Hamburgh, 5th May, 1753. 

When you recollect how lately I expressed my 
desire to see you a happy lover, you will not doubt 
of my joy on finding my prayers accomplished; 
nor should I have had the patience to defer so 
long to offer you my heartfelt congratulations, and 
to wish you every possible felicity with your Ma- 
yerin Gluck, had not Klopstock insisted on our 
writing a, joint letter of friendship and gratulation ; 
but he, my poor Klopstock, is so much occupied 
in collecting subscriptions for the Messiah, that 
he has not a moment to call his own, and I am 
resolved to wait for him no longer, though I too, 
am in my way so overwhelmed with petty cccu- 
pation, that I am always expecting to be sum- 
moned from my pen. Even a short letter may, 
however, suffice to assure you of my cordial par- 
ticipation in your pleasure. 

As an accepted lover, you are intitled to look for- 
ward to an approaching union, and the only wish I 
can breathe for you is, that your happiness may be 
as permanent as it is now complete. Shall I tax you 



186 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

with treachery to a certain damsel of your acquaint- 
ance ? 'Twas a trick for which I could almost be 
disposed to chide you. When you sent the odes, for 
which I am truly thankful, you told the bearer I was 
Klopstock's bride elect. Now this was mal-d-propos, 
for our engagement neither is, nor, for particular 
reasons, can be made public. Oh, pray whisper 
it not in future to any one who is not Klopstock's 
most intimate friend, and therefore mine of course. 
And now farewell. 

Meta Moller. 



LETTER LVI. 

Schmidt to Gleim. 

Langesalze, 19th May, 1753. 

What will you think of me for having so long 
delayed to wish you joy ? when from the time you 
were declared bridegroom elect, you assuredly re- 
ceived congratulations from all your other friends. 
Ibr myself, so singular is my character, that I 
have preserved sullen silence till you are on the 
very verge of the altar. I presume the object of 
your choice is a pretty lass, still in her teens — 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 187 

(that lovely season of docility and innocence,) peace 
and purity, are imprinted on her brow; yet is 
she sufficiently intelligent to delight by her con- 
versation, as much as she captivates by her coun- 
tenance. At present she is your pupil, but doubt- 
less destined at some future period to revise and cor- 
rect your manuscripts—to inspire your songs — and 
preside like a tutelary angel over your poetical 
compositions. By heaven, you are a lucky man ! 
Yes, I plainly perceive you have engaged the fa- 
vour of the little winged deity, who perhaps from 
gratitude for your tributary lays, has thus show- 
ered on you his choicest joys. Since you are on 
such good terms with the capricious boy, let me 
beseech you sometimes in your orisons and thanks- 
givings, to breathe a few kind prayers for your 
poor solitary bachelor friend. 

I have a thousand questions to ask ; but you 
ought intuitively to anticipate and spontaneously 
to resolve them. You will easily conceive that 
I long for the story of your love from begin- 
ning to end, and that I do not authorise you to 
gloss over or omit a single passage in the whole 
interesting Iliad. I am possessed with the spi- 
rit of a critic to discover the real state of your 
heart, and shall spare no pains to become ac- 
quainted with all its multifarious feelings. Mar- 
riage, like death, produces an irrevocable change 



188 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

in the condition of man. The bridal pledge 
involves as many mysteries as the grave. Whilst 
we are single, we speculate in a thousand ways 
on the joys and griefs of wedlock ; but the wed- 
ded are no less inscrutable than the dead. Not 
one of them returns to give any certain intelligence 
of the happiness or misery which exists beyond 
that state of probation. How gladly should I 
receive in a dream some intimation from your 
righteous spirit, to fortify my faith in this ideal 
felicity ! 

Is it not necessary to add, that I long for a 
minute description of your fair bride — not one line 
must be omitted — not one feature overlooked. Is 
she apprized of my existence, and in what shape 
am I presented to her mind ? 

Schmidt. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 189 



LETTER LVIL 

Schmidt to Gleim. 

Langesalze, 21st July, 1753. 

Truly I know not why, ungrateful as you are, 
I should take the trouble to arraign your silence. 
You are a vile heartless wretch, without either 
taste or feeling to embrace an opportunity to afford 
me pleasure. Be assured, I am so exasperated by 
your neglect, that all the expressions of indigna- 
tion I have hitherto used, are mild and tender in 
comparison with what I think, and what I keep 
in store against you. 

What say you to this vehement exordium, dear 
Gleim ?- Is it not enough to make you tremble 
for what may follow ? But come, to appease your 
terrors, I will graciously remit my wrath, and, 
perhaps, even resume with you something like the 
tone of cordiality and kindness. 

But seriously, what can be the reason that you 
have not deigned to return me some answer ? Was 
it that my sportive style was ill-suited to the se- 



190 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIEND®. 

rious occasion ? In that case, you must frankly 
pardon the levity — it will be at least four or five 
years before I enter the married state. A period 
so far distant, that I see no necessity for as- 
suming the sombre looks appropriate to the solemn 
occasion. But admitting that the contemplation 
of marriage is no less awful than the prospect of 
death, (to pursue my old comparison between 
them,) still it is my intention whenever I shall re- 
ceive my doom, to exhibit rather the gaiety of 
the Emperor Adrian, then the stoical majesty of 
the patriot Cato. Both these men are celebrated 
for the manner in which they quitted life. I trust 
I shall not fall short of the graceful model I have 
chosen for imitation, and that in the trying mo- 
ment of my espousals, I may sing, with a smiling 
face, the appropriate invocation, 

Animula, vagula, blandula, 
Quo nunc abiris in locis. 
Pallida, tetrica, lucida, 
Nee ut ante dabis jocos. 

What think you of these reflections ? Will you 
take it amiss if I have sported with them in a 
former letter ? What will you say to my having 
taken the liberty to write to your young bride ? 
Will you not pronounce mean impudent fellow ? 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 191 

will not your wife be ready to do the same ? and 
yet I fear not that such reproaches should fall from 
her lips, 

— ■ i Non is vultus in ilia, 

Non ea nobilitas animo est, ea gratia forms 
Ut timeam. 

I take it for granted, your marriage is over, other- 
wise what could have a more ridiculous sound than 
the title of madam with which I have greeted your 
beloved, a title which by every girl who deserves 
not the honourable distinction, must be considered 
as a reproach. 

Once more let me conjure you to send the his- 
tory of your love. You have so often derided the 
artifices of the little cunning boy, that I cannot 
doubt he has adopted some singular mode of making 
you sensible to his revenge. Little as he appears 
qualified to assimilate with warrior, it is impos- 
sible not to detect in his character, a striking re- 
semblance to that first of heroes, the impious, vin- 
dictive, inexorable Achilles. — I should not be sur- 
prised to find, that he had dragged you three 
times round your lady's dressing-room, and that, 
assisted by thirty or forty cupids, armed with cui- 
rass and buckler, he had inflicted on you some 
signally terrible chastisement. 

Terribilem que hostem, multa tellure jacenteni, 
Mirantes spectant. Nee jam contingere tutum 
Esse putant, sed tela tamen sua quisque cruentant. 



I 



192 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

Then all approach the slain with vast surprise, 
Admire on what a breadth of earth he lies ; 
And scarce secure, reach out their spears afar, 
And blood their points to prove their partnership in war. 

Dryden. 

Schmidt. 



LETTER LVIII. 

Schmidt to Madame Gleim*. 

Having at length ascertained that you are shortly 
to preside in my friend's house at Halberstadt, 
and that, consequently, I may hope to pay my re- 
spects to you, I conceived it might not be impro- 
per, previous to my intended visit, to furnish you 
with a description of my person, and thus prevent 
the surprise and consternation with which you 
might otherwise be overwhelmed by my sudden 
appearance. Imagine, then, on some early morn- 
ing between the hours of five and six precisely, at 

* It will appear that Gleim was never married — he was, how- 
ever, once on the eve of being united to a young lady whose 
caprice inflicted on him the pangs of disappointment. The nup- 
tial day was fixed, and Gleim actually received several letters of 
congratulation at the moment he was suffering the most cruel 
mortification. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 193 

the happy moment when the most delicious visions 
are hovering over your pillow — imagine at this cri- 
tical moment, that a little strange figure suddenly 
enters your house, and audaciously penetrates to 
your apartment ; a little figure observe, not quite 
so tall as poets have described the tiny king of the 
fairies, who are seen by some privileged beings 
dancing by midnight in the yellow moon-beams ; — 
to return to the intruder — a brown periwig bounds 
a yet browner visage, which wears the full livery 
of night, perhaps purposely to conceal the traces 
of the small-pox with which it is cruelly disfigured. 
He is enveloped in a white riding coat, whilst 
an arch laugh draws his lean back into many folds. 
This little lean figure, with the pitted visage and 
long riding coat, is, with shame I confess it, alas ! 
no other than my poor unhappy self. And yet, is 
it my fault that I possess not a more engaging 
exterior ? I have at least a consolation from the 
thought, that being now perfectly aware of my de- 
formity and insignificance, you cannot possibly 
mistake me for some frightful phantom you had 
beheld in a dream, which really to one so perfectly 
conscious of human existence as myself, would be 
absolutely insupportable. 

The description of my character will be as con- 
cise as that of my person has been long and ela- 

o 



1<H KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

borate. It is comprized in frankness and sincerity 
a propensity to mirth and pleasure, a little mixture 
of pride, a keen relish for raillery and loquacity, 
and above all a susceptibility to the tender passion. 
What will you say, with such a figure can 
there be any susceptibility to love ?. . Alas ! Ma- 
dam, it is too true, that nature has acted with 
injustice in not steeling my soul to amorous 
impressions. I adore your sex, with the more 
fervor from the despair of exciting any corres- 
pondent emotions, yet the rectitude of my inten- 
tions has produced some compensations for an un- 
toward destiny. I have committed no depreda- 
tions on the female heart, no robbery of the affec- 
tions lies on my conscience, and yet have I some- 
times awakened tender prepossessions which have 
secured advantages that might excite the con- 
queror's envy. Either my harmless countenance, 
or my helpless figure, has procured the choicest 
dainties for my palate j and there has never been 
either maid, or matron, in my friend Glenn' s house, 
who did not, if possible, allot to me the best of 
whatever she produced on the table. 

Schmidt. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 195 

LETTER LIX. 

From Meta Moller to Gleim. 

Hamburgh, 5th September. 

I shall always have a grateful sense of your kind- 
ness in sending me Klopstock's portrait*. What 
was my joy on its arrival ! with what rapture was 
it welcomed every day — with what caresses cher- 
ished every hour ! I must tell you I have con- 
trived to place it in a position to be visible 
from every part of my chamber ; and, oh ! how 
often are these eyes turned to that spot ! I will 
confess I miss in it the looks I have been accus- 
tomed to steal from Klopstock's eyes — that pecu- 
liar expression of his countenance which seems for 
me alone ; yet still am I (all in all) delighted with 
the resemblance. 

I would fain send you a copy of this portrait, 
but (alas, for Hamburgh) I know not a single 
painter to whom I could confide the task. I shall, 
however, endeavour to ascertain which is the best 

* This portrait, for which Klopstock sat at Zurich, was 
purchased by Kleist, and by him presented to Gleim, who 
parted from it to afford Meta some consolation during her lover's 
absence. 

o 2 



196 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

of those who are all below mediocrity, for even & 
bad copy is better than none. Gieseke has re- 
lated to me the history of your late disappoint- 
ment, on which I forbear to make any comment, 
lest I should recall your own painful recollections. 
Yet do not imagine I can believe you will suffer 
the levity of one girl of whom you had seen too 
little, to have any well-founded assurance of her 
affection to inspire you with an illiberal distrust of 
our whole sex. Were it possible to entertain a sup- 
position so injurious to your character, I should 
consider the exception attributed to myself, as a 
very equivocal compliment ; but I have too much 
respect for your discernment, and too much con- 
fidence in the goodness of your heart, to admit 
the suspicion for a single moment. I should rather 
expect, that experience would lead you to renounce 
the litte arrogant opinion, that a girl is to be known 
and won in one quarter of an hour. 

I have now so much reason to be satisfied, that 
I should feel it presumption to ask for any blessing 
I do not already possess, and trust I do not breathe 
a wish that is not tempered by the spirit of resig- 
nation. 

Meta Holler* 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 197 

LETTER LX. 

Meta Moller to Gleim. 

Hamburgh, 9th March. 

At length I have it in my power to transmit 
the copy of my Klopstock's portrait. 

You are well aware, that if I have so long he- 
sitated to perform my engagement, it has been 
with the hope of discovering a better artist. This 
expectation has not been gratified, but little as I 
am satisfied with the substitute, I can withhold it 
no longer. Even the original portrait but imper- 
fectly conveyed the sweet engaging expression of 
my Klopstock's countenance ; in this copy he has 
actually a sullen brow. Remember, my dear Mr. 
Gleim, you have an undoubted right to reclaim 
your picture companion whenever I have the ori- 
ginal friend ; and this change now appears at no 
great distance. Never shall I forget your kind- 
ness in so long submitting to the privation for my 
satisfaction, and scarcely can I forgive myself for 
having so long left you to solitude. Absolve me, 
however, from all intentional neglect, and believe 

me 

Your constant friend, 

And for a short time, 

Meta Moller. 
o 3 



198 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

LETTER LXL 

Meta Klopstock to Gleim. 

Quedlinburg, 30th July, 1754. 

This is the first day that I would venture to 
write, since I could not sooner tell you the vile 
fever had left my Klopstock. It is needless to ex- 
patiate on my own joy, and yours can scarcely be 
less, for you, it seems, profess to vie with me in 
affection* But I will not now wrangle with you 
on this point, as you seem disposed to cede to 
me the preference. With all my love for Klop- 
stock, I will not assume too much superiority over 
you ; but then remember, to maintain your ancient 
rights, it is necessary you should assert them in 
person ; in other words, why cannot you come to 
visit us, when my husband is sufficiently recovered 
to enjoy your society ? To tempt you farther, I 
promise you shall take my place beside him, and 
talk to him as much as you please. I shall not, 
however, relinquish my own pretensions to the 
title of prattler, a character I commonly support 
with Klopstock, especially when you, my rival, 
are not by. Well — do but come— and come soon, 
and we shall all be satisfied. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 199 

And now am I irresolute whether to thank or 
to scold you. To be sure, I cannot but say I am 
obliged for all that you have so liberally sent to 
gratify the palate or the taste ; but still, I could find 
in my heart to chide you for never forwarding a 
letter without certain accompaniments. Do I need 
such tokens to certify that this comes from Gleim ? 
Are not your epistles dearer than the books compos- 
ed by other men ? If you would but indulge us with 
anew ode — but there, you are a downright niggard. 
Well, well, you shall some day be convinced I am 
not to be affronted with impunity. What, if I ask 
you to repeat some verses, and then contrive by 
help of a good memory to make them pass for my 
own property, will not this be charming revenge ? 

On Monday we expect Gieseke, and on Thurs- 
day se'nnight Gartner and his wife. What a dear 
little communion of friends ! But where is Gleim ? 
where is Klopstock's darling and Clara's rival, and 
why comes he not ? 

Meta Klopstock. 



q 4 



200 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS, 



LETTER LXIL 

Meta Klopstock to Gleim. 

Quedlinburg, 7th April. 

We promise ourselves the pleasure to visit you 
early on Monday morning, and to remain with you 
till the evening. My husband is in such ecstacies 
on the occasion, that he cannot write himself, and 
therefore allots to me the task of notifying our in- 
tention. I partake of his delight, and shall cer- 
tainly accompany him, without taking time to 
enquire whether you would rather have him all 
alone. But be not alarmed, my presence shall 
not prevent your engrossing Klopstock. This li- 
beral concession I am induced to make, partly 
from pure good will and partly from impatience of 
obligation ; and I would have you consider it as 
an acknowledgment for a certain beautiful peach 
I lately received, without referring to former fa- 
vours. Remember then, it is agreed that you shall 
constantly sit by Klopstock ; you shall have his 
eye, his ear, and smile on him and whisper to 
him as often as you please. And now, are you 
satisfied ? See what a dignified man you are, and 
what deference you inspire in our sex. To another 
I might perhaps have promised, he should have 



KXOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 201 

the honour to kiss my hand, and proud enough 
had he been with the gracious condescension ; but 
to you, the immortal bard is alone acceptable. 

My husband has told me twenty times to 
conclude. It afflicts him to see me writing so 
long a letter, and I perceive it was not without 
design that he gave me such a shabby scrap of 
paper. WelL well — I will not thwart his pleasure, 
I conclude therefore your 

Clara Klopstock, 
Mr. Frederic Klopstock's Secretary. 



LETTER LXIIL 

Schmidt to Gleinu 

Langesalze, 11th April, 1754. 

The sight of your letter and the renewal of your 
former friendship was to me like the apparition of 
a person I had once loved, and who, to bless me 
with his presence, was permitted to revisit this 
terrestrial sphere. You must not, however, from 
this funereal comparison, be so unjust as to sus- 
pect I ever included you in the number of those 



%02 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

friends I had lost for ever ; I should rather com* 
pare the lethargic torpor in which your friendship 
has remained for the last two years, to the death- 
like sleep in which the tender warblers of the 
woods are supposed by us, unscientific naturalists, 
to be buried during the ungenial months of win- 
ter ; and as the first warm breath of spring rekin- 
dles life in their little feeble frames, in like man- 
ner I was persuaded, that whenever your heart 
regained its wonted tone, the first impulse would 
be of kindness, 3Aid its spontaneous effort restore 
to me your native affection. 

I understand Klopstock's bride is such a crea- 
ture as one might be proud to make a friend. Pray 
tell me, if she really possess all the attractions 
with which his poetical imagination invests her ? 
or to put the question in a more tangible shape, 
tell me whether you would have wished that your 
wife should be precisely such another ? 

You have without doubt read the consolatory 

reflexions addressed by — to Mr. Secretary 

G on his late disappointment. Many circum- 
stances in the tale appear to me clouded with 
mystery, and I would bet ten to one that you will 
never resolve the enigma. I know you dreaded 
me of yore, and for that reason always withheld 
your luckless history. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 203 

My poor Gleim ! it would perhaps have been 
noble magnanimity to spare you that dolorous ex- 
clamation, and yet so well do I like to be my own 
echo, that I cannot resist the impulse to reiterate 
my poor Gleim ! 

You have no right to be offended, since your 
own conscience can testify that your reserve to- 
wards me has incurred a worse penalty. 

Klopstock is married, Sucro is married, and 
ought not such examples to inspire the most pusil- 
lanimous with courage ? I for my share will tell 
you in confidence, that I am not now at such an 
infinite distance from the perilous time, since the 
noose is actually cast on my neck, and I here ap- 
prise you of my intention to suffer myself to be 
drawn with heroic constancy and resignation. 

Schmidt, 



204 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

LETTER LXIV. 

Klopstock, the Father, to Gleim. 

Quedlingburg, September 27. 

Had I a horse at my disposal, I should not fail 
to see you this very day, to learn from your own 
lips, how far our opinions coincide respecting the 
reprobate fiends in the Messiah, whom I have 
always considered as analogous to men who live 
without God in the world, men addicted to vari- 
ous fancies, full of malice and wilful blindness. 
It is to confront such men, and to expose the fal- 
lacy of their opinions, that I would repair to the 
arsenals of history and theology, and enlist in the 
cause morality and criticism. I have often felt a 
strong impulse to proclaim to the world, that these 
scoffers are not Christians, and that they delight 
to grovel in ignorance and to dwell in darkness.* 
Let us not be dismayed by the importance of the 
subject, but support each other in the arduous 
conflict ; we are not children in knowledge, and 
have already advanced beyond the porch of sci- 
ence ; why then should we postpone for any other 

* Klopstock, the father, had planned some theological work, 
in which he was to be assisted by Gleim. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. c 205 

task, or delay to any future period, the examina- 
tion of a subject which has such vital influence 
on the heart ? 

There must be for this, an appointed time 
and season ; a manly consistent resolution sur- 
mounts every difficulty ; I repeat, there must 
be an appointed time and season, the cause ad- 
mits not of delay. — Are we not impelled by 
love, reverence, and gratitude, towards him, 
who is our creator and benefactor ? Are we not 
prompted by good will and charity for our fellow 
creatures, to snatch them from the adversary of 
God and man ? Are not these considerations 
sufficiently powerful to animate us with zeal in the 
cause of truth and piety ? When shall we meet to 
commune together on this subject, to the exclu- 
sion of every other ? I am little in duke literario 
otio, but will hold myself ready to obey your 
summons. I want chiefly to speak of the plan of 
our future essay — were this once arranged I might 
immediately proceed to the undertaking. 

I am anxious to know whether you approve of 
writing a discourse between two, three, or at the 
most four persons, who should sustain their part 
of the argument in a manner appropriate to the 
assumed character ? — we could produce a fund of 
satire with a poignant rubrick. There can be 
nothing new under the sun — this method or form 



206 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRflENDS. 

of the dialogue is both ancient and modern ; the re- 
ciprocation of sentiments and opinions enlivens the 
work for the reader, and in some degree facilitates 
the labour of composition to the writer. I mean 
not to dictate, I merely submit the idea for future 
consideration —the student, the schoolman, the imi- 
tator, the newsmonger the tartuffe, the free- 
thinker, are all characters — give them what names 
you please. 

I am now ready to close my sheet, which I 
will do with the hope that you may be induced 
freely and reciprocally to communicate your 
sentiments. What a satisfaction is it in think- 
ing aloud to find that our thoughts are some- 
times unexpectedly in unison — the symphony 
Dero, with my ideas, was to me the most de- 
lightful harmony — yes, such is the blessed use I 
have made of the Messiah. From the reflections 
it inspires, I have been led to put more trust 
in God, the aspirations of my soul have as- 
cended to him with more fervent gratitude, more 
confidence, more devotional have wept with 
joy — ah trust me— no freethinker can be equally 
a judge of its beauties— the heart that clings to 
sordid dust is incapable of feeling the mysteries 
of heavenly love. 

Klopstock, 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 20? 

LETTER LXV. 

Klopstock to his Father. 

January, 1 7 it 6. 

The Dunciad is at length arrived — it is certainly 
strong. — Ernst informs me it is attributed to 
Lessing — but I am fully persuaded the real author 
lives in Switzerland.* Cramer says, "if the hero 
of the Dunciad (whose name I would not willing- 
ly mention, so much is he the object of my con- 
tempt), if this man have any feelings left, he 
must certainly have recourse to the first rope to 
escape from infamy ." I am impatient for the ar- 
rival of Zacharia's odes — it is not a little morti- 
fying that we have here to wait so long for the 
perusal of new publications. 

The great European earthquake has, you may 
well imagine, excited great alarm and uneasi- 
ness in the country. By the majority, it is however 
considered merely in relation to the temporary loss- 
es and impediments it has occasioned to trade ; it 
should rather be contemplated as a remarkable 



* The surmise was just, the author's name was "VVielrad, he 
lived with Bodmer. 



208 leLOPSTOCK AND his friends. 

manifestation of divine providence, thus offering 
an awful warning to Europe. Our Cramer has de- 
livered on this subject a discourse, which has been 
since published by the King's order, with another 
on the prevalence or profligacy and dissipation. 
In the ninth canto of the Messiah, you will find 
the description of an earthquake (introduced as a 
simile), which may be supposed to have been sug- 
gested by the calamity at Lisbon, but which was, 
in reality, written two months before that tre- 
mendous event. 

Klopstock. 



Note. — In the year 1756, Klopstock and Meta 
visited Hamburgh ; they kept a journal of the 
voyage; but, as it contains little to interest the 
reader, it is omitted. The following extract, 
however, is excepted from the general condem- 
nation. 

Klopstock writes. 

I am just come from the deck, where I have 
been amused by tracing a comparison between the 
cabin boy and the dog. They have certainly many 
points of resemblance ; both are at once strong 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 209 

and submissive, faithful to their master, and ob- 
sequious to the passengers. The dog is never per- 
mitted to put his paw into the cabin, however 
wishfully he may look towards it. The boy is not 
equally restricted ; but whenever he enters, it is 
with his cap under his arm, as if he begged pardon 
for the intrusion. In one respect, there is a con- 
siderable difference between them, for at the ap- 
proach of another vessel, the dog barks and the 
boy laughs ; the former receives his meals later, for 
no sooner has the skipper helped himself from the 
kettle in which every thing is cooked, than the 
boy takes the offals from his plate, and the poor 
dog must patiently wait to pick the bones. 



£10 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS, 



LETTER LXVL 

KlopstocJc to his Father, 

Hamburgh. 

At length I begin a letter amidst the distrac- 
tions which have often forced me to lay down 
my pen. My pleasures are all damped by the re- 
flexion that I shall not this time see you and the 
dear inmates of your roof. My life flows on se- 
renely, and is often happy — still am I sufficiently 
reminded it is but this world — much indeed must 
be wanting to my felicity when I am estranged 
from you. 

I shall continue to communicate whatever oc- 
curs, and I always write from the impression of 
the moment. The King, who is to all that ap- 
proach him an object of reverence and love, has 
often experienced how sweet it is to exercise 
the affections of his benevolent nature. He lately 
came to Hamburgh to see the principal streets 
of the city. The people gathered round him 
in such crowds, that the royal guard was soon 
separated to a considerable distance from his per- 
son. The throng increased — scarcely could his 
horse move through them, and he himself was often 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 211 

obliged to remain stationary. The people pressed 
forward to the horse, clung to the stirrup, kissed 
the King's feet, " incessantly shouting our Father, 
our King, God bless him ?' the name of father and 
friend continually intermingled with the rapturous 
acclamations. The King, on his part, saluted the 
people, thanked them for these demonstrations of 
affection, and then besought them to desist, but 
still kept his hat off, though a heavy shower was 
falling at the time. 

Klopstock. 

Meta writes. 

Here I am in Hamburgh, well and happy. It 
is pity I cannot enjoy my husband and family at 
once ; but since I must resign one of these bless- 
ings, I do not hesitate to follow him, who is more 
to me than all the world besides. 

Meta Klopstock. 



-12 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 



LETTER LXVIL 

Klopstock to his Parents. 

Copenhagen, 1 st September, 1756. 

I would not apprise you of our intended depar- 
ture from Hamburgh, lest you should be exposed 
to anxiety on our account. We commenced our 
expedition on Monday, with delightful weather, 
but in going to Lubeck, had, I believe, to tra- 
verse the worst road in Germany. We arrived 
there in the evening, completely fatigued, but 
our correspondent having engaged a carriage to 
proceed to Travesmunde, we had only to transport 
ourselves, bag and baggage, from one vehicle to 
another, and resume o«r journey. It was already 
twilight, and our driver, who was certainly the 
greatest booby that ever attended a civilized being, 
soon contrived to miss his way, and to blunder 
into a wood, where the barking of dogs alone 
announced that we were in a peopled neighbour- 
hood. Guided by these signals, we dispatched 
our clown on a saddle horse to explore the way, 
and he soon returned with an assurance, that we 
were still in the right track, and within a cannon 



i 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 213 

shot of Trave. From this intelligence we were 
induced to hope that we might notify our approach 
to the ferry people, and accordingly began shouting 
and hallooing with all our might. At first we 
were flattered with an answer, but soon discovered 
that the supposed response was nothing more than 
a beautiful echo in the wood. Having exhausted 
our strength, we again dispatched the clown, who 
after two tedious hours, finally succeeded in bring- 
ing the ferry people to our assistance. After the 
usual details, we embarked, and at five in the 
morning commenced our voyage. 

It had been my intention to keep a journal of 
every thing that occurred during the passage ; but 
we failed to procure a cabin for our separate ac- 
commodation, and had to share a small table with 
seven other persons. At about twelve, the clouds 
gathered, and suddenly portended a tempest. I 
was the first to announce it to the captain, who in 
a few minutes ordered the sails to be lowered; but 
scarcely was this performed, when the storm de- 
scended with awful impetuosity. I was at first 
dismayed, but soon became composed, and having 
exchanged a few words with Meta, returned to 
the deck, where I stood clinging to the mizen 
mast for support. And now appeared the sea in 
all its terrible majesty— every moment the waves 
rose higher, and struck with greater force against 

p3 



214 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

the vessel. We descried land, but the wind blow- 
ing from thence, were still tossed at the mercy 
of the waves. 

In this perilous moment my soul was pene- 
trated with gratitude to God, and impressed 
with unutterable hope and affiance in his pro- 
tection. Tears started to mine eyes, whilst I 
repeated in a low murmur the solemn hymn, 
6 Lord of the wind and waves/ and had a secret 
ineffable satisfaction in dwelling on those sacred 
words. In the meanwhile, the tempest continued, 
but with no augmented violence. The captain 
steered for the land, and as we approached the 
shore, the fury of the waves subsided — the roaring 
of the winds died away. We again furled our 
sails, and soon glided through the deep with that 
fleet celerity which is so delightful to the impa- 
tient voyager. 

Towards evening we cast anchor on the Spitze 
of Falster, or, as it is called by the sailors, the 
Green Sands, where in a safe commodious cove, 
sheltered by the wooded cliff above, we had to 
wait nearly two days for a friendly breeze. At 
length the elements became propitious, our sails 
were once more filled, and the balmy softness of the 
air drew every body to the deck, where we long 
watched the cliffs of Moen,* or gazed on Krieden-. 

* See note at the end of the volume. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 215 

berg, whose picturesque beauty might have cap- 
tivated an artist. It is an additional attraction 
that the Kriede Erde, which had previously ap- 
peared but as a faint line of wood projecting to 
the sea, opens all at once to the delighted eye. 
In the evening we anchored on a point of Zea- 
land which lies under Anmack, this navigation 
being a part of the voyage which is always per- 
formed by day light, to ensure safety. In the 
morning we resumed our course, and soon after 
met an English ship in full sail, with which we 
exchanged a cordial greeting. Two hours after, 
we passed a Danish ship of war, just returned 
from Morocco. The soldiers and sailors assem- 
bled on the deck saluted us with loud huzzas, 
which even a Princess must have endured, had any 
such exalted personage been of our company. We 
landed in the evening, and on Thursday go to 
Lingbin, to remain during Count BernstorfPs 
absence. 

Meta is still reposing from her fatigues ; for my- 
self I rose at seven, having slept perfectly well dur- 
ing the voyage on the bare planks, and made seven 
meals per day. 

Klofstock. 



p 4 



216 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 



LETTER LXVIII. 

Klopstock to his Father. 

Copenhagen, 8th Not. 1756. 

The state of your health, dearest father, of which 
I was yesterday apprized by my mother's letter, has 
filled me with unutterable solicitude. It is, however, 
some consolation to reflect, that the rupture of a 
blood-vessel is not so alarming at your age, as 
when it takes place at an earlier period. May 
God preserve your life — it would pierce me to 
the soul to think I should never see you in this 
world again. I have long, and, indeed, ever felt 
you were inexpressibly dear to me, my beloved, my 
honoured father j yet I now endeavour to force my- 
self from the thoughts of your danger, and to leave 
all to God, the supreme disposer of human events, 
by whom they are all directed and superintended 
in wisdom and in love. I must write no more on 
this subject, but have entreated Olde* to transmit 
his opinion on your case. 

Let me now inform you in what manner I 

* Olde, a celebrated physician mentioned in the early letters 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 217 

have been lately occupied. I am writing a 
tragedy, called Adam, but I have also undertaken 
another work which I consider as my second 
vocation. It is my object to compose a series 
of songs for the worship of God, a task which is, 
in my judgment at least, as arduous as any I 
could have attempted ; since it is necessary with- 
out departing from the dignity of religion, to con- 
ciliate popular feelings, and to keep on a level 
with the most ordinary capacity. Hitherto it appears 
to me, that these devotional essays have been bless- 
ed with success — I have already composed hymns 
for all the holy festivals (Christmas excepted) 
adapted to the melody, ' Lord God we praise thee.' 
Many of our best spiritual songs I have only alter- 
ed, some are recomposed. I shall soon transmit 

to you specimens of both. 

Klopstock. 

Postscript by Meta. 

The account of your illness, my dearest father, 
is no less afflictive to me than to your own children, 
for you are my dearest, best, and now only father. 
Ah, I surfer doubly — for myself and my husband. 
,Never have I seen Klopstock in such a state as he 
has been in since the arrival of yesterday's letter. 
May God support you all under your present afflict- 
ion, my beloved mother, my sister, my brother. 

Meta Klopstock. 



218 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 



LETTER LXIX. 

Klopstock to his Mother. 

Copenhagen, 1 8th November, 1756. 

You will better conceive then I can describe, 
with what feeling we received the intelligence of 
our father's death. Thanks for your kind pre- 
caution in communicating it through the medium 
of a letter from Gieseke to Cramer, which spared 
us the shock of seeing the black seal. It was on 
the Saturday that Cramer came to us ; and on the 
Sunday your own letter arrived. I would not now 
open our wounds afresh. — What has happened was 
the will of God — blessed be his mercy, that he 
granted to our beloved parent so sweet and serene 
an end. Much happier is he now than we are — 
the Lord's name be praised. 

Whenever you are sufficiently composed, my 
dearest mother, to controul the anguish of your 
soul, we beseech you to write all the particulars 
of his death. My younger sisters might indeed 
perform the task ; it is good for us to dwell oit 
the memory of such scenes ; nothing is more sa- 
hitary to the soul then frequent meditations on 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 219 

the grave. In asking for this minute account, 
I mean the most trifling circumstance, any thing 
and every thing that impressed your mind at the 
moment. I will, however, point out some few 
subjects on which my soul yearns for communi- 
cation. In what apartment did he breathe his 
last? Who was chiefly with him during his ill- 
ness ? Was he, from the first attack, persuaded 
that his hour drew near, or at what time was the fa- 
tal conviction impressed on his mind? I feel assured 
that he did not fail to remember his absent child- 
ren, who then and still so dearly love him ; but 
with what words, in what manner did he mention 
them ? I trust we shall so live, that the benediction 
of his departed spirit may rest upon us. 

My anguish is now somewhat allayed, but sorrow 
will long remain in my heart. How much did I 
love him ! I have of late often thought of his re- 
vered mother, who first implanted in me religious 
feelings, and of his father, the venerable John 
Christian : now are they all re-united in the sa- 
cred peace of eternity. 

Klopstock. 



220 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 



LETTER LXX. 

KlopstocTc to his Mother.. 

Copenhagen, Christmas Eve, 1756. 

I still feel a quiet deep seated grief ; God has 
given me the grace to be thankful for my father's 
happy death : but a soft and tender sorrow mingles 
with those feelings. I have this day been at once 
touched and soothed by the repeated perusal of your 
letters. I had hoped to see him at least once more 
in this world, and was often willing to believe, 
that he would reach a good old age. But it has 
pleased God to decree otherwise. — His thoughts are 
not our thoughts. — Your minute description of his 
death has very much affected me. I know not 
whether I could have borne to witness his end ; 
yet had I been able to command so much forti- 
tude, I should have been much edified by so sacred 
an example. Now is he much happier than his 
children, and we should be grateful to that God 
who has called him to his peace and immortality. 

How much do I wish it were possible that I 
should take on myself the charge of my sister's 
education ; but I am myself in very straitened 
circumstances. 

Klopstock. 



KEOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 221 



Mrs. Klopstock died in 1756. From that period 
the correspondence is almost exclusively confined 
to Klopstock and Gleim. The following letter is 
the only one in the collection from Gleim to 
Schmidt, to which it does not appear that he re- 
ceived any answer. 



LETTER LXXI. 

Gleim to Schmidt at Eisenach. 

3d February, 1760. 

To tell you, dearest Schmidt, that I still exist, and 
that I am still as much attached to you as I was ten 
years ago ; to ask whether you still live and are still 
my friend ; to learn all this, is a sufficient motive 
for writing ; nor can I possibly omit the oppor- 
tunity of once more making the enquiry by a mes- 
senger who is going from hence to Eisenach. 
Oh! if you retain any recollection of the 
time when you addressed to me such affec- 



222 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS, 

donate letters, and if you would restore to me the 
invaluable privileges I then possessed, what a cor- 
dial would you administer to my heart, which since 
the death of my best friend, my incomparable 
Kleist, has been consumed with silent grief. I have 
already sent you one letter, which, like this, 
was entrusted to the care of a special messenger. 
But he returned without bringing one line in answer 
to my enquiries. Could you reconcile yourself to 
such total neglect of the man to whom you have 
so often repeated that you were his best friend ? 
Perhaps your sister has not wholly forgotten me. If 
you can no longer give me your own friendship, have 
at least the goodness to assure her, that my esteem 
for her is as permanent as my affection for her 
brother has been unalterable. 

Gleim. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. %<23 



LETTER LXXIL 

Gleim to Klopstock. 

Halberstadt, December 6, J 762. 

I sent you a thousand benedictions this morn- 
ing, whilst musing on a passage in the Messiah — 
It was to your spirit that I offered them, dear Klop- 
stock, and methought it discoursed tome of So- 
crates.— Oh ! that you might be a Socrates to 
your heart, under its present trial*, and that your 
health may escape uninjured by care and suspence. 
I find it impossible to divest myself of apprehen- 
sion ; I must have ceased to love the poet and 
even to adore his sacred muse, if at such a crisis 
I could make my mind perfectly easy. 

The men with whom we have to communicate 
are of a character, but too widely opposed to ours 
in opinion and sentiment. 

* This and the following letters referred to an attachment 
Klopstock had formed for a young lady of Blankenburg, who was 
not insensible to his affection, but her family opposing the union 
the poet was finally obliged to relinquish the pursuit. 



224* KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

My thoughts are occupied night and day with 
one subject, and I hold nothing so dear as the ac- 
complishment of your wishes. To have shewn 
less anxiety and more indifference to some of the 
party concerned would have been my honest 
counsel, had this been a case in which counsel was 
either asked or admitted ; yet, for heaven's sake, 
suffer not yourself to be too much discouraged by 
these suggestions, nor suspect that I withhold un- 
welcome truths. I have not concealed from you 
a single thought — you should best know whether 
my fears are groundless —they are perhaps the 
mistaken suggestions of a too officious zeal, and 
have gained access to my heart by friendship and 
affection. 

Gleim. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. %%5 



LETTER LXXIII. 

Klopstock to Gleim, 

Blankenburg, December 15, 1762. 

Dearest Gleim, 

You have returned the ode without a single line, 
a neglect I have the more cause to complain of, as 
I had so lately replied to your former letter. You 
have aggravated the offence by not meeting me at 
this place on the day of my arrival ; but you sure- 
ly will not add to such manifold transgressions 
that of not writing to apprize me of our friends 
return from the Chase. — The father has sent his 
sister a letter, in which I am mentioned in hand- 
some terms, but the idea of the distance and the 
separation again crosses over his mind, and recalls 
his former repugnance. I beg, or rather I need 
not beg you, not to breathe to one human being a 
hint of my Dona's sentiments. Whilst things are 
in their present state, our correpondence cannot be 
too carefully concealed from the world. With less 
disposition to be hypochondriac, I should certainly 
have a fairer chance for happiness ; but still it 

Q 



226 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

would be ungrateful not to acknowledge that I 
should be eminently fortunate if not finally un- 
successful. I have spent here eight days, and 
constantly perceive in my lovely girl new capaci- 
ties of affection, and every disposition to render 
me perfectly happy. — She has hitherto been some- 
what reserved, and hence as her shyness wears 
away, I have constantly the pleasure to discover in 
her something new. 

Klopstock. 



LETTER LXXIV. 
Klopstock to Gleim, 

Quedlinburg, April 15. 

Dearest Gleim, 

It is no small satisfaction to have gained some 
certain intelligence respecting your retrograde 
movements. I concluded you were gone to Ber- 
lin to celebrate the restoration of peace. I have 
continued to linger at Quedlinburg without once 
venturing to Blankenburg — not that my sweet 
maid has caused me this chagrin ; the blame lies 
in another quarter— -however the affair is a second 
time approaching the crisis. 



KLOFSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 227 

My dear Tante niece,* what follows is for you 
exclusively, and be sure not to give Gleim a peep 
over your shoulder. 

You are perhaps not aware what sort of a letter 
I have received from your dutiful nephew — had 
you seen it, you might have been tempted to 
think that I and not the horse was the aggressor ; 
for my part, fair Clara, I would not have written 
such a letter to a friend for the sake of any horse, 
no not even for a courser trained to run at the 
Olympic games, with his life and my honour de- 
pending on the contest. And now a truce with 
the subject — only this let me say in self-defence, 
I was as innocent as your spotless self of the sor- 
ry beast's misdemeanors ; it was only by dint of 
the strongest incentives that I brought him to a 
trot. — A slug, had he belonged to me, I should 
soon have made him fly with the velocity of a 
woman's tongue. Having once stumbled on the 
comparison, let us take leave of the horse for a 
more attractive theme. Pray how do you relish 
the image ? I had not forgotten the wings of love, 
but surely they are too old and too much worn 
by use. 

Do you not know that the spring pays a more 

* One of Gleim's nieces who resided with him at Halber- 
stadt. — See Muller's letters. 

Q2 



228 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

early visit to us at Quedlinburg than to you in 
shadeless Halberstadt ? If you have acquired so 
much knowledge, Clara, pray turn it to the best 
account, and intice your nephew to attend you 
hither. 

Klopstock* 



LETTER LXXV. 
Khpstock to Gleim* 

Minsdorf, August 12, 1763. 

I have, it is true, spent here a considerable time, 

simply because I am pleased with. Messrs. , 

and because hunting and rural recreations are 
highly favourable to my health. I shall be this 
evening in Quedlinburg, where I must spend at 
least some days. But I shall soon seek you in your 
garden, (renouncing Stillstadt or any other town,) 
and see that you drink the waters, and like a care- 
ful physician, watch over your health ; and pro- 
vided you be dutiful and docile, as becomes a 
good patient, I may perhaps resume my literary 
labours with Solomon or the Messiah. 

Klopstock. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 2&9 



LETTER LXXVI. 

Klopstock to Gleim.. 

Quedlinburg, November 3, 1763. 

It is somewhat strange, in the very act of re- 
ceiving one acceptable favour to demand another"; 
I am not often disposed to be thus importunate, 
but to day I happen to be in a rapacious humour, 
and I must and will have a snipe. 

My reason for the demand is as follows : 

For the first act of David one partridge. 

For the second act ditto 

For the third act a snipe. 

This last act, be it known to you, was begun 
but this morning, &nd yet is considerably advanced. 
It was not till my return from you, that I entered 
upon the third tragedy. Are you not startled at 
the number? By casting the fragments I had 
previously prepared into a regular form, I had in a 
manner to recommence my work, to which I have 
regularly devoted every morning, till to-day.— 
Since I have touched on the subject I can scarcely 
resist the inclination to sound David's praise — but 
yet I will resist the impulse. 

Q3 



230 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

Your courier waits, my horse is also saddled, 
and exercise is to me indispensable after study.— 
Do not think I reserve all my gratitude for the 
partridges — I am equally obliged for the review— 
I am not conscious of having imitated either the 
CEdipus, or the Philoctetes. You shall not find 
in David the tyrant of Thebes, though Sopho- 
cles is my darling. 

Klopstock. 



LETTER LXXVIL 

Gleim to Klopstock. 

Halberstadt, January 23, 1764. 

Winkelman is out my friend — it costs nine dol- 
lars, and wilLtake some time to be read through — 
all the better. Winkleman and Klopstock ought 
to be such writers. Alas — but Klopstock, (you 
comprehend that alas, my friend,) need not write 
much, and still is there much to be read. — 
Resewitz ought to be our Plutarch, and teach us 
to read Klopstock — I would myself perform the 
task if I could. — I should at least make the attempt 
if I had time \ and surely I may assume the merit 
of possessing one important requisite, that of un- 
derstanding my Klopstock. It was but this morn- 
ing I said to myself, If he wrote but for one alone, 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 231 

for whom should he so properly write as thee? 
This Plutarch must be found. An Addison is as 
much wanted by the Germans as the English, to 
make them sensible to the beauties of their epic 
bard. I was reading to-day in the Spectator, and 
as I read, I could not help thinking in how many 
exquisite passages of his Messiah my Klopstock 
had surpassed Milton.* I defy you to be proud, 
and therefore scruple not to avow all I think and 
feel — for need I fear you should mistake me for a 
flatterer ? No, you are convinced I am none. 

I have reperused your strictures on the Greek 
quantities ; were you to prefix strictures on Iambic 
verse and on lyric measures to your Solomon and 
your odes, you would supply a fund of wisdom 
to the critics ; for trust me, dear friend, critics 
there are, and proud ones too, who know nothing 
of the matter. I here send you some ingenious 
essays by the author who translated Aristotle on 
the Art of Poetry. You will find in him a flagrant 
example, that with scholastic knowledge and pro- 
found erudition it is possible to be the worst of 
poets. 

* It should be recollected that this extravagant assertion is 
made by a foreigner, who could scarcely be supposed competent to 
appreciate Milton. Gleimwas always lavish of praise. In a letter 
to Mullerhe says — ce n'est pas Winckelmann qui depeint Apol- 
len— c'est Apollon qui parle par la bouche de Wiukelmann. 

Q 4 



232 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS* 



LETTER LXXVIII. 

Gleim to Klopstock. 

Halberstadt, 6th February, 1764. 

Nothing, my dear friend, nothing can I suggest 
to excuse your silence. It is not that the post- 
master is so dilatory, or that you are so diligent — 
it is not that you have the expectation of seeing 
me at your own house, or the intention of visiting 
mine. No, there is no cause — no plea. It 
should seem that you, my friend, my sworn bro- 
ther, had entered into an engagement to vex me 
to death. 

I have told every body I thirsted for a letter, 
and yet no one brings me one drop from the living 
well of friendship to allay my thirst. Oh! per- 
verse sons of men ! even the Klopstocks are cor- 
rupt. I might say with Cato, < the world was 
made for Caesar. 

How much longer will you remain in this neigh- 
bourhood ? By and by you will scarcely give me a 
thought ; write you surely will not. Does it then 
afford no gratification to you great poets to corres- 
pond with your friends ? or is this a pleasure of 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 9.33 

too low a cast for your sublime nature ? It is a 
melancholy truth, that ten years ago you were 
more warm and more ingenuous — you were, in 
short, all feeling — ten years hence you will be all 
reason, cold, calculating reason. Oh ! this fatal 
reason is always opposed to my wishes, dear Kl op- 
stock. 

Ramler has addressed a beautiful ode to his 
muse. It will please Klopstock, thought I, and 
without more reflexion, I took a copy from the 
bookseller. But how little does that forgetful 
Klopstock care for my gratification ? since he has 
never been kind enough to send me his odes, con- 
scious as he must be, that I should have been too 
happy to transcribe them. 

It is reported that the King * has invited Mr. 
Lange to Berlin, to preside at the German Aca- 
demy. Mr, Lange is not only a poet but a na- 
turalist, a chemist, an agriculturalist, and the 
friend of Quintus Icilius.t 

The King, as becomes the father of his people, 
is anxious to see his country embellished with the 
bloom of peace, and will probably listen to any 
feasible plans for its cultivation and improvement. 
To Berlin, at least, Mr. Lange is gone— that is 

* Frederic the Great. 

f Charles Gotheb Guiscard, the favourite of Frederic. 

See the end of the volume. 



2S4f KL0PST0CK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

Certain, and certain it is, there exists not in the 
world a man to whom you have given so much 
provocation as your 

Gleim. 



LETTER LXXIX. 

Klopstock to Gleim. 



1766. 



I do not think, dear Gleim, I can to you trans- 
mit any more welcome intelligence, than the as- 
surance that I have enjoyed perfect health during 
the winter, and that I continue to walk and write 
with constant punctuality. But, tell me, are you se- 
riously interested in the progress of my Essay on 
Quantities ? It has not always been so — and I 
have repeatedly suppressed an inclination to con- 
sult you on the subject, from the persuasion that 
you took too little interest in the research to have 
any relish for the disquisition. I shall, however, 
be but too proud to find myself mistaken, and re- 
quire but half a word of encouragement to resume 
my communications. 

Is not the composer of Ramler's Berenice the 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 285 

same Krause who, in common with many other 
absent and departed friends, occupies a place 
in your study? It is long since I have heard 
any thing so excellent, so exquisitely gratifying 
to my taste, as this charming piece. Surely 
Krause must have dreamt that he was in a Gre- 
cian temple consecrated to music,* and listened 
in fancy to the divine strain of Alcaeus. Ima- 
gine with what enthusiasm we should have dis- 
covered such an ode in the Herculaneum ; with 
what tears of rapture should we have snatched the 
text from the crumbling ruins ? Gerstenberg and 
his wife sung the Neuen Griechen, 

Nunc pede libera 



Pulsanda tellus.f 

I listened till I could have been almost extra- 
vagant enough to realize the image. What sim- 
plicity, and yet what richness in the composition ! 
how full of beauty, and to me of novelty ! And 
now must I tax your friendship to bring me im- 
mediately into a correspondence with Krause on 
the composition of my Strophes. It is my design 
that he shall set them to music. As I suspect Krause 
is under circumstances which render it necessary 

* See note at the end of the volume. 

t Now lighter dance the mazy sound, 

Francis's Horace, 



236 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS, 

he should direct his views to emolument. I 
shall use all my influence to procure him a pre- 
sent from the King of Denmark. You have 
but to bring about the correspondence, the sooner 
the better— -for Ars longa, vita brevis, as Hippo- 
crates long since said. 

It is an eternal shame, dearest Gleim, that you 
will not have recourse to exercise for the re-esta- 
blishment of your health. 

The following prescription is specific in your 
case. 

< 4th March, 1766. 

« Three hours of recreation in the morning, two 
* in the afternoon. 
' Good society. 
4 A hearty breakfast. 

6 Item, copious draughts of the northern breeze. 
6 Pursue this course eight days successively. 

' Probatum est. 9 

Alas ! poor Gleim ! to recommend this to you, 
is to discourse of colours to the blind. 

Is it Mr. Grillo's intention to translate the whole 
of Pindar ? It appears to me, he should rather 
make a selection of the finest odes. Were Pindar 
always equally great ; it is not possible his ideas should 
excite in us the interest and enthusiasm they in- 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 237 

spired in antient Greece. Mr. Grillo's transla- 
tion, though in many parts admirable, is some- 
times liable to serious objections. He is too li- 
teral — too rigidly Pindaric in the epithets ; nor 
can I discover whether he writes in Dithrambic 
verse or prose. 

I have communicated to Mr. Grillo my senti- 
ments on the subject, the frankness with which I 
stated my objections being proportioned to the 
interest I feel in the success of the undertaking.* 



Klopstock. 



* See the note at the end of the volume. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 



LETTER LXXX. 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

Copenhagen, 20th December, 1767. 

The friend and the poet thanks you for the ver- 
sified Adam ; # but recollect you are a little con- 
tentious, and that a single word sometimes brings 
on an argument, which I must at present avoid, 
not having half a word to spare. I will however 
venture to say, that in two plaGes you have ex- 
panded the thoughts, which was contrary to my 
judgment. But, absent man, you seem to have 
lost all recollection of the conversation that passed 
between us in the anti-room leading to your cabi- 
binet, that very apartment where you see the white 
hangings and luxurious curtains. It was there 
that I besought you not to think of versifying 
Adam —besought you perhaps too earnestly, since 
you answered, ' be not alarmed on this subject, the 
task is much too difficult.' I am however convinced 
of your friendship, and grateful for the motives 
which prompted the effort you have made. 

* Kotzebue informs us, that his dramatic genius was first ex- 
cited by seeing Klopstock's Adam represented at Weimar. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 239 

You ask for literary intelligence ; but from hence 
what is to be expected ? We have here no erudite 
scholars, no disciple, no master, no schoolman, (if 
the term of master savour too much of pedantry.) 
We live in primitive innocence of criticism and con- 
troversy, satisfied with enjoying our own opinions, 
which we reserve for our slippers and easy chair, 
and never communicate, much less publish, to any 
but intimate bosom friends, like Alberti and 
Gleim. 

Gersternberg has produced an Ugolino, which 
is in my judgment excellent, and I have the 
satisfaction to reflect, that I encouraged him in 
the undertaking. Ugolino is already forwarded 
to the care of Lessifig for the press. 

Since I am thus chatting with you tete-a-tete, I 
must whisper in confidence, that I am revising Her- 
mann's Schlacht, a bardit which is one of my pets, 
both because it is in honour of our forefathers, and 
because it flowed warm from the heart. In com- 
posing it, I neither placed myself on the classical 
tripod, nor ascended the critical rostrum. I 
adopted the simple maxim, that a national song 
should interest those to whom it is addressed, and 
wrote with the impression that every thing in ho- 
nour of the father-land ought to touch the soul ! 
Hermann's Schlacht will soon have a twin sister in 
Hermann and Ingamar. I cannot say, that the 



240 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

head is already fixed on the shoulders, for I am 
Working at it according to my usual laudable cus- 
tom, piece by piece, and two thirds of it are finished. 

My odes, to which you have shewn such favour, 
shall soon be transmitted to you in print or manu- 
script. Wherever mythology is introduced, it is 
the Scandinavian, or in other words, the mytho- 
logy of our fathers. The long ode on my friends 
has a place in this collection, under the name of 
Wingolf. I take it for granted, you have read 
the extract from the Edda in Mallet's Northern 
Antiquities. A blooming sisterhood of odes, twelve 
in number, are ready to drop a curtsey to Gleim, 
and beg an oak leaf, (to the laurel such Ger- 
man damsels have no pretensions.) Gleim accosts 
the first by asking her name, and so continues to 
do with all the maids successively, each of whom 
is prompt in saying, "I am Braga — I am Her- 
mann," till presently I begin to perceive they 
even forerun his interrogations. 

And now, my dear Cheruscan,* (yes, you boast 
of blood as pure as mine,) I take it for granted, 
you know we are solely indebted to the Cheruscans, 
who opposed and overcame Varro's legions, for 
the privilege of preserving our own native language, 
instead of using, like the French, a broken Roman 

* See note at the end of the volume. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 241 

dialect. If you bear this mind, I may now, me- 
thinks, challenge the oak leaf, with which I began 
the sentence. And now must I let you into a 
little artifice I have used in the bardit of Her- 
mann, which to none but an old Cheruscan 
would be intelligible. To say the truth, I con- 
trived it solely for myself and you, intending it 
shall remain a secret between us *. I have cho- 
sen for Hermann to be born on the very cliff 
where Henry the Fowler lies buried. Let us hoard 
up this little secret which can only be tasted by 
you and me. 

Do not surfer yourself to become so idle a cor- 
respondent as I am. " Evil communications cor- 
rupt good manners." Still I hope from you better 
things. 

Klopstock. 

* See note at the end of the volume. 



B 



24)2 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 



LETTER LXXXL 

Gleim to Klopstock. 

Halberstadt, 3d April, 1768. 

Never lias my Klopstock addressed to me such 
a letter as that of the 9th December, I767. You 
know you are apt to be contentious* and that one 
can scarcely hazard half a word in opposition to 
your opinion. Contentious ! how came this word 
from my friend's pen ? how could he apply it to 
his Gleim, who„ if he were capable of deserving 
the hateful imputation, had at least not incurred 
it from Klopstock, with whom he is proud to 
sympathize, and to whose approbation he is accus- 
tomed to refer as to a standard by which to mea^ 
sure the propriety of his own decisions, and to con- 
firm the rectitude of his judgment ? With regard to 
your supposed prohibition to versify Adam, I swear 
by our holy friendship, my dearest Klopstock, I 
have not the least recollection either of that or any 
of the other concomitant circumstances alluded to 
in your letter* In support of my assertion, I can 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 243 

produce the testimony of Resewitz, to whom I 
mentioned my metrical interference. When I 
urged you to attempt the versification, you declin- 
ed it, as too difficult a task. I, on the contrary, 
considered it so easy, that to obviate your objec- 
tion, I undertook it myself, with the firm persua- 
sion, that my offered services were not rejected. 

With regard to schools and schoolmen, far from 
wishing to enlist under their banners, I have for 
their cavils an undissembled repugnance, and my 
influence, if any I possess, is exerted in opposing 
their progress. In other respects, I live like you, 
in primitive innocence of criticism and controversy, 
and have my own private opinions, which I keep, 
like my nightgown and slippers, for my retired 
moments. The literary intelligence I requested 
from my Klopstock was no other than such as he 
is wont to communicate, as how far he has ad- 
vanced with the Messiah, the odes, my old dar- 
lings — the treatise on Quantities, and the embryo 
tragedies. 

Gleim. 



r2 



'244 KXOFSTOCR AND HIS FRIENDS, 



LETTER LXXXIL 

Klopstock to his Mother. 

Bernstorff, October, 1765. 

I hasten to give you the agreeable intelligence* 
that the Emperor has resolved to protect litera- 
ture and the arts in Germany. I have but just 
learnt that such is his intention, and must with- 
hold all other particulars till I receive a circum- 
stantial account from Count Wellesberg. 

Klopstock. 



LETTER LXXXIIL 

To the same, 

8th April, 1769. 

You have probably learnt from the public jour- 
nals, that the Emperor set off on the 4th of March 
for Rome. Having received no communication 
on the former subject, I am led to conclude no 
plan was formed previous to the journey, Im- 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 245 

patient as I am to learn the result of the move- 
ment, I think it necessary to suppress any en- 
quiry which might betray my private feelings. I 
consider the late delay as an indication that the 
affair is in progress, the Emperor must either re- 
main passive, or act in a manner not unworthy of 
his character and the expectations he has excited*. 

Klopstock. 



LETTER LXXXIV. 



Klopstock to Gleim, 

Copenhagen, 1769. 

To my no small surprise, I lately read in a letter 
from my mother, the following passage : " Gleim 
says, Klopstock is no longer my friend," and I say, 
I wonder how such a preposterous idea could ever 
have been admitted to your mind. It might not 
perhaps be any extraordinary proof of friendship, 
that I ordered both the Messiah and Hermann's 
Schlacht to be forwarded to you from the press, but 

* It does not appear, that any real advantage resulted to 
literature or to Klopstock by the issue of this negotiation. 

It 3 



246 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

it certainly evinced nothing opposed to friendship. 
I could communicate to you, dearest Gleim, many 
things in connexion with the last work, but must 
postpone it to another season, not from any want 
of confidence, but from a variety of causes which 
you yourself would allow to constitute valid ex- 
cuses. At some future period, be assured I shall 
atone most amply for this involuntary silence. 

And now a w r ord or two of my sportsman-like 
excursions in the ancient forests of our language, 
of which, after daily labour, I still make a favourite 
recreation. Macpherson, the champion of the 
Bard Ossian, (Ossian observe, being a Caledonian, 
must have been of German extraction,) has pro- 
mised to send me the Erse Melodies, answering 
to certain lyric passages of that great poet, by 
the help of which, I expect to reduce to a regular 
scale the metrical quantities employed by the an- 
tient bards. These little discoveries will not come 
amiss as auxiliaries to my essays, but you must 
not suppose they include the history of my cam* 
paign. That I have been a successful sportsman, 
you will not doubt, when I have had the honour 
to announce, that I have explored, pursued, and 
finally discovered the Anglo-Saxon, Cadmon, (the 
greatest poet after Ossian of Celtic antiquity), in 
the poems which bear his name, and that these 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 247 

poems, are not as Hicks, and many scholars have 
supposed, mere imitations, but original composi- 
tions, in which only a few syllables of the old lan- 
guage are changed to the new. 

Were you not, dearest Gleim, too incurious in 
these matters, I would give you all my interesting 
data to feast upon ; but who can feel so much en- 
thusiasm to catch the accents breathed by ano- 
ther race of people in their Grecian Tempe, and 
yet never listen to one sacred whisper of the vener- 
able paternal grove ? 

I am a successful sportsman still, having farther 
discovered, (and truly the whole German world, 
from the commencement of this century might 
equally through Hicks* have made the discovery,) 
that there is a Saxon poem which deserves to be 
edited, entituled the History of the Redeemer, and 
that is the composition of a christian poet, almost 
cotemporary with Wittekind's bards. This history 
is as noble and poetical as was consistent with the 
beautiful simplicity of the original. Hicks places 
the poet in the reign of Charlemagne, and even 
ascribes to him a still higher antiquity. I believe I 
have ascertained his era from a passage in an his- 
torian who lived under St. Louis, and who men- 
tions a poetical translation of the Bible which 

* Dr. Hicks, the celebrated Linguist, author of the Thesau- 
rus Linguarura. 

R 4 



34$ KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

that Emperor had received from a Saxon poet 
The fragment commences at the birth of Christ, 
and is continued to the discourse with the young 
men of Emmaus. It contains many old teutonic 
roots ; and among others some highly poetical 
words (which to us poor moderns were wholly 
lost), besides some rich lyrical quantities. I think 
to publish the work with an almost literal transla- 
tion, illustrated by notes explanatory and concise. 
I am already in possession of some materials for 
this purpose, communicated to me by one of the 
King's # travelling attendants, and but for Lord 
Morton's death, should have procured the codex, 
of which I hope ere long to obtain a copy. 

And now are you not disposed to acknowledge my 
patriotism, since it has even made of me (what 
without such agency it was impossible I should 
ever have been) a laborious scholiast ? The grand 
design to which all my efforts have been directed, 
and to which all my labours are subservient, is to 
build up and embellish our native language. For 
this undertaking, the Saxon poetry supplies a rich 
perennial mine. We must take their images, 
their old original genius warm from the heart. 
Nor is it uninteresting to observe in what manner 

* The King of Denmark was on a visit to England, 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 249 

the Northern Germans wrote of religion soon after 
the period when Charlemagne preached convers- 
ion by the destroying sword. 

Do you know, Gleim, that you, who are so 
apt to accuse me of silence, have left unanswer- 
ed a letter as full of matter as this elaborate epis- 
tle ? but I said to myself, it will not be unfriendly 
to write again. After such liberality I am surely 
entitled to an early answer. 

Klopstock. 



LETTER LXXXV. 

Gleim to Klopstock. 

Halberstadt, 17th August, 1767. 

Warm with gratitude for the tribute which our 
sublime Emperor has offered to Klopstock — proud 
to find that he loves my Frederic, and my dearest 
friend, I write to request permission to have his 
picture, not that superbly set in jewels, for of 
what use should jewels be to me? but simply a 
copy of it, to introduce to my little temple of the 
Muses.* The Emperor is now my King's friend, t 

* Frederic the Great, who was Gleim's idol, 
t The Emperor had sent his picture set in brilliants to Klop- 
stock. 



c 250 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS, 

and shall therefore have a place by his side. I 
shall introduce no other subject in this letter — hav- 
ing a petition to offer, it would be unwise to dis* 
tract your attention. 

Gleim. 



LETTER LXXXVL 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

Bernstorf, 8th September, 1767. 

If I cannot procure you a good copy of the Em- 
peror's portrait, I will at least comply with your 
request, in sending it without delay. He surely 
loves your Frederic, and is reported to be growing 
partial to your Klopstock, an intimation which 
will, I know, contribute to augment your esteem - 7 
added to which, I might assure you, as the best 
argument in his favour, that his character is purely 
German. 

How much should I have to communicate were 
we to meet again ! But now leaving the temple, 
we must withdraw to the cabinet, and close the 
doors on every intruder. I am not a little flat- 
tered by your favourable reception of Hermann, 
for the Cheruscan of the Buda is, with reason, anx- 
ious to conciliate the Cheruscan of the Selke. 

* See note at the end of the volume, 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 25J 

Apropos on this subject. In the course of my 
Teutonic researches, it was once my fortune to 
light on a passage which suggested to my mind a 
momentary suspicion, that I was not really de- 
scended from those illustrious heroes. On inves- 
tigation, the apprehension vanished, and not a 
little was I amused at the panic it had created. 

Gluck, of Vienna, an adept in music, who has 
been called the Poet of Composers, has given to 
some Bardic Strophes the pathos and force of 
truth. 

I have lately commenced a correspondence with 
a female artist, resident in London, Angelica 
Kauffman, who promises me a head of Ossian, 
sketched from fancy, her own portrait, and a pic- 
ture, of which the subject is taken from the Mes- 
siah ; you may form some idea of the excellence to 
which this black-eyed girl has aspired, when I tell 
you that she demands for a portrait fifty guineas, 
and according to such remuneration, I have al- 
ready received from her presents to the amount of 
3001. sterling. I have another anecdote, which 
will I know be acceptable to dear, partial, enthu- 
siastic Gleim. A travelling Hamburgher lately 
saw at Verona, the History of Samna* beautifully 
represented in a series of pictures. I must now 

* See note at the end of the Volume. 



252 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 



transcribe a passage from a certain letter, which is 
submitted to your eye alone. 
' Suffer me, most sublime object of the father-land, 

* with gratitude to approach your august pre- 

* sence. Long have your Germans glowed with se- 

* cret emulation ; but from the moment that they 
c are animated by your smiles, the enthusiasm 
' shall kindle to a flame, and the native energy of 
'■ their genius burst forth. Under such auspices, 

* they shall no longer hesitate to confront their 

* Gallic foes or challenge their British rivals ; sup- 
6 ported by your sanction, they shall even invade 

* the sanctuary of classic literature, and wrestle 
' with the antients in their own theatre of honour 

* and glory. It will be for other eyes than mine 

* to witness the splendour of their future achieve- 

* ment — enough for me if I but see the combat 

* commence, for which another age shall demand 

* the triumph — if I but perceive the first spark 

* struck in the noble conflict, and indulge in anti- 
i cipation the sacred transports of patriotism and 

* victory.' 

Klopstock* 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 253 



LETTER LXXXVIL 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

Bernstorff, 7th September, 1769. 

Your present has afforded me no small pleasure — 
the odes are more in the manner of Gleim than 
Horace, and I rejoice that in this respect the title 
corresponds so little with the work. You must 
not translate. Admirably as you perform the 
task, I interdict that exercise of skill. The only 
language from which I can allow a German 
writer to translate, is the Greek. If I but think of 
a foreign yoke, my spirits kindle to a flame. 

Indeed, my dear Gleim, you might have taken 
a better route ; # but you would not have found 
Herder with me — whither the pilot has carried him 
I know not, lie may perhaps be quietly sojourning 
at Copenhagen. I know nothing of Jacobi but 
his letters, and what I have met with in literary 
journals. He understands the classics, but has 
somewhat too much of foreign cultivation. Is 
Ramler aware that in the best poem he ever wrote, 
he has accidentally deviated into originality? There 

* Gleim bad promised to visit Denmark. 



£54 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

now appears to be a cordial friendship between 
the Emperor and the King.* Oh! that they 
would rather think of the ploughshare than the 
lance. 

Klopstock. 



LETTER LXXXVIIL 

Klopstock to his Mother. 

Bernstorff, 16th September. 

I had yesterday a most satisfactory letter from 
Vienna, in which I learn (among other things) 
that I have received permission from his Majesty to 
wear the medal he was lately pleased to confer on me, 
an honour which was before exclusively confined 
to Van Swieten, who is first physician to the Em- 
press, and her most distinguished favourite. — 
That the person with whom I am thus associated 
should be Van Swieten is a favourable presage. 
Gleim can tell you in what estimation he is held 
by the Empress, and fof aught I know by her im- 
perial son. 

Klopstock. 

* Frederic the Great. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 9.55 



LETTER LXXXIX. 

Gleim to Klopstock. 

Hamburgh, 5th September. 

Two words with you my old faithful friend, 
you receive with this, the portrait of your venera- 
ble mother, painted by the first artist in our neigh- 
bourhood. The mother of Homer thought I 
ought not to be the last personage that an Apollo 
admitted to his gallery — then came Calau to me, 
and lo ! the mother of Klopstock soon appeared 
on the canvas ; you will find the countenance 
most happily seized ; whoever sees it is struck with 
the likeness. 

Surely, my dear Klopstock, you forget us all — 
how can I ever hope to chat with you again ? I am 
now drinking the waters ; I am constantly out of 
health, and oppressed with the thought that I shall 
not live to see the Messiah finished, or to read 
Klopstock's manuscript odes, — that dear Klop- 
stock would be still more godlike if he suffered 
his poems to be transcribed by Gleim. What is 
Cramer doing — what Resewitz — what Gersten- 
berg ? It is not without concern I make the last 
enquiry ; since he has had a misunderstanding 



256 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

with Jacobi, the most amiable of human beings — 
a man after Klopstock's own heart. It grieves 
me to think of this unhappy difference ; let me 
beseech you to employ all your influence to pro- 
duce a reconciliation between them y restore their 
former friendship and you will have a new claim 
on my gratitude and affection. 

Gleim. 



LETTER XC. 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

Bernstorff, May 28, 1770. 

You could not, my dearest Gleim, have devised 
for me a more agreeable present than my mother's 
portrait ; but are you not aware that one favour 
extorts another, and that your kindness must ex- 
pose you to fresh importunity ? I shall be ready 
to quarrel with you, if you have not already di- 
vined, that the boon I now ask is your own portrait; 
indeed I know not why the painter should not con- 
cur with the engraver in embellishing your books. 
Just after the arrival of your present, I received 
one from Angelica Kauffman. It is an exquisite 
picture and sufficiently evinces that the fair artist 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 257 

has studied Raphael with attention — the subject 
is the story of Samna ; three figures are introduced, 
the first is the ghastly form of Samna, who is 
seated pensively reclining his head, whilst he 
grasps in his hand the urn of Benoni. Joel with 
tears in his eyes, appears a supplicant to John, 
who bends over him with an ineffable expression 
of pity and benignity. 

This is not the only picture I have received from 
Angelica. I had entreated she would give me her 
own portrait in the character of Thusnelda*, and 
here she is attired in a purple vest, a quiver sus- 
pended over the shoulder, the arms almost bare, 
and encircled with wreaths of wild flowers, inter- 
mingled with oak leaves. I hope you do not for- 
get that Thusnelda has blue eyes ? but I would 
not suffer Angelica to change the colour of her 
own ; and accordingly the Thusnelda she has sent 
me clasps in her arms a Roman eagle, on which 
her black eyes are rivetted with an expression of 
rapturous delight. I earnestly besought Angelica 
not to send the head of Ossian, as she had proposed 
to do, for how could I bear to accept of her such 



* Thusnelda, a personage in Klopstock's ode of Herman 
and Thusnelda, in which she welcomes her warrior just returned 
from conquest, and presenting as the trophy of victory a Roman 
eagle. 



%58 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

magnificent presents, for which I could only offer 
thanks ? 

Now let me sum up all the treasures I have in 
possession or reversion. First, my mother's por- 
trait from Gleim. — Secondly, Samna, from Ange- 
lica. — Angelica Thusnelda from Angelica. — Add 
to this Gleim' s portrait from Gleim. — And I may 
well glory in my riches. Independent of these 
treasures Glover has sent me an edition of Leonidas. 

I defer to another season my important rea- 
sons for considering Rosstrappe as the only Drui- 
dical ruin in Germany ; it is sufficient for the pre- 
sent to state, as the result of many learned and 
elaborate researches, that the two bards of the 
Selke and the Buda (both native streams of the 
Hartz forest, and both celebrated in poetry) 
should concur in the design of raising a monu- 
mental inscription on the cliffs of Rosstrappe ; but 
how and when, and by whom, this is to be ac* 
complished, I must reserve for another letter. 

Kxofstock* 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 259 



LETTER XCL 

Gleim to Klopstock. 

Halberstadt, September 14, 1778. 

To reply to the two last lines of your letter, 
would require much more time and attention than 
I can at present command; and to confess the 
truth, I should have been better pleased, if, instead 
of the hint respecting Rosstrappe you had mention- 
ed something nearer home — something nearer, do you 
say ? Be not offended — my head is confused with 
a chancery suit. Of your odes, and your treatise 
on quantities, or your bards under Charlemagne, 
of all these, you said nothing, and these were the 
subjects on which your Gleim longed for informa- 
tion. With regard to the monumental inscription at 
Rosstrappe, I should have little difficulty in exe- 
cuting the commission, as we have in this town 
an excellent statuary, whose time and talents 
could not be more honourably employed, than in 
raising a memorial to the first poet of our age. 

I called a few days since on my Klopstock's mo- 
ther, who was even better than usual, and pro- 
mised to pay me a visit next month at Halber- 

s 2 



£60 KLOPSTOCK AND MIS FRIENBS* 

stadt. Shall I never again see her son cross my 
threshold ? 



LETTER XCIL 

Klopstoclc to Gleim. 

Hamburgh, April 15, 1771. 

I am conscious I ought long since to have writ- 
ten to you, dearest Gleim — and it is but a sorry 
excuse for silence, to say that one is addicted to it. 
I am delighted with your odes \ only it grieves me, 
that my dear German Gleim should still invoeate 
Grecian gods. 

It appears probable that what I have long pre- 
dicted will soon take place, namely the loss of my 
Danish pension. I have received a schedule from 
the privy chamber, (I presume, by order of the 
royal cabinet,) in which are the following cate- 
gorical questions, What is my age ? For what ser- 
vices, and on what occasion I received my pen- 
sion ? What is my private property ? 

To these inquiries, if I allowed myself to obey 
the dictates of my heart, I should reply, that I 
looked not for the continuance of my Danish pen- 
sion. Ought I not to anticipate the result of their 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 261 

investigation, and may I not repose with confidence 
in the liberality and justice of my native country ? 
What is your opinion ? Unfortunately, however, 
as the ultimatum must be given on Thursday, 
your counsel cannot arrive in time to aid my de- 
cision. But I shall, at least, have it in my power 
to act on your suggestions at some future period. 
Not one word of these suspicions to my mother, 
she will know it early enough ; sitfficient unto 
the day is the evil thereof. 

Klopstock. 



LETTER XCIII. 

Klopstock to his Mother. 

Hamburgh, April 4. 

It is indeed true that my health was considera- 
bly impaired by affliction for Count BernstorfPs 
death; but it is now happily re-established. — lam 
at present domesticated with the Countess, who 
insisted on making me the inmate of her house 
which is pleasantly situated and stands on a salu- 
brious spot. I had hoped to prevail on Prince 
Charles of Hesse who married our second Prin- 
cess, to procure for our late illustrious friend the 
distinction of being buried at Rosechild, where 

s3 



262 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

the kings of Denmark are commonly interred— 
the proposal was negatived, but I hope at least to 
see a monument erected to his memory in the 
Dutch chapel at Copenhagen. 

Klopstock. 



LETTER XCIV. 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

Hamburgh, 25th February, 1774. 

Your red book has afforded me no small plea- 
sure ; it has much that is new, both in matter and 
manner; only I wished some lyrical repetitions 
omitted, and here and there to have expunged a 
little harshness. 

You forbear to explain in what manner those 
wicked people have vexed you*, but do you not 
know, that nothing disturbs one so much as a 
word half dropped, which leaves the mind to per- 
plexity and conjecture ? 

I embrace you with my constant friendship. 

Klopstock. 



* This refers to an unpleasant disagreement which had ©o 
cured between Gleim, Reyer, and Spalding, 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIEND*. 263 



LETTER XCV. 

Gleim to Klopstock. 

Halberstadt, April 13th, 1777. 

By the joys of our youth, my best, kindest, 
dearest friend and partner, by all those guileless 
joys, my first silence was occasioned by circum- 
stances I had no power to prevent. I could not 
bear to answer the dear letter which, as many of 
my friends could attest, I had hailed with trans- 
port, in one of those cold miserable hours in 
which soul and spirit are exhausted, and the living 
man is buried in paper and parchment, accusations 
and judgments. In such miserable hours of drud- 
gery, I would not reply to a letter which liad 
flowed from the heart of hearts. I sighed for lei- 
sure to call back my own departed spirit, and re- 
store my exhausted feelings. 

But the second letter, my dear friend, sum- 
moned me from statements and judgments ; then 
was I ready to seize your offered hand, and ex- 
claim, that from year to year, it had been my con- 
stant purpose to renew the friendship of our early 

s 4 



2(54 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

life ; that I longed to behold once more the German 
bard I had loved from his youth, and always hoped 
to take my flight to Hamburgh, and there surprise 
him with his muse : alas ! all these purposes were 
baffled by circumstances over which! had no con- 
troul. But whence comes it that you, my friend, 
with whom I have for thirty years continued a 
correspondence, and who have been for ever pre- 
sent to my mental eye, how comes it that you 
have never revisited your native country and that 
of Hermann ? for Hermann was, as Klopstock 
says, a Hartzer. Our old disciples can attest for 
me, how ardently I wished to see you once more 
in this neighbourhood* For myself, it is not in- 
deed possible, I should this season make my mi- 
gration to Hamburgh, but in another year, if God 
prolong my fife, I shall embrace my old true 
friend, with the same affection I have ever felt for 
him. 

Gleim. 



KLQPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 2&5 



LETTER XCVL 

Gleim to Charles Christian Klopstock. 

Halberstadt, 22d March, 1779. 

The Klopstocks are perverse beings. 

Like all the corrupt children of men— they live 
but for themselves, not for their friends, not for their 
brothers and sisters. From the eldest, who was my 
sworn friend, I have not now for some years received 
a single line, not a half salutation have I had from 
him, and yet I know he means me well, and has no- 
thing to allege against me. All human beings, even 
the best of them, are a perverse and miserable gene- 
ration. They come good out of God's hands, as long 
as they are boys, youths, and even men till they have 
reached the fortieth year, they still retain some- 
thing good ; but then the light wanes, and is at 
length wholly extinguished. With all my old 
friends, it has been my fortune to see this remark 
verified. Their letters are ardent in youth, in ma- 
ture life lukewarm, cold as ice when age approaches, 
till at length the feeble spark is quite exhausted. 
I could produce an immense collection of manus- 
cripts to corroborate the assertion. It were, how- 



266 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

ever, useless to complain, since the rule is universal, 
and little does it avail, that in my own person I 
form a sad and solitary exception. 

I take it for granted, you would have sent me 
some literary intelligence from the Hague, if you 
were still a lover of the muses. I do not expect 
that you can find time to encumber yourself with 
transactions of state, or the cabals of the Voltaires, 
the Vangoens, the Rousseaus. I will not, there- 
fore, ask for news, but content myself with assur- 
ing you that 1 am unalterably yours, 

Gleim. 



LETTER XCVII. 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

28th November, 1782. 

It is very long, dearest Gleim, since we ex- 
changed letters, our correspondence having, I be- 
lieve, stood still ever since I incurred your dis- 
pleasure by not going to Brunswick. I confess I 
was heartily vexed on that occasion, both because 
you blamed me for what I could not possibly help, 
and because I was sufficiently punished in not 
seeing you. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 2G7 

I was lately gratified by a visit from one of our 
most honourable compatriots, who promised to 
erect a monument to Hermann on the heights of 
Winkfeld, with a suitable inscription. I shall here- 
after transmit the particulars, but, for the present, 
I beg you not to mention the subject. 

I have suffered much from domestic trials ; the 
death of the Countess Bernstorff, the eldest sister of 
our great Stolberg*, was a severe affliction. I 
had known her from her twelfth year, had watched 
over her youth, and if not an agent in her marriage, 
was at least a confidential friend on the memorable 
occasion. Nor is this the only wound that has 
reached my heart, our friend Voss having also lost 
his eldest son, a youth of high promise, to whom I 
was tenderly attached. 

I have often been informed, you meant to visit 
us, and was sometimes disposed to hope this might 
be true, since you had formerly, for my sake, 
undertaken more distant journies. When shall this 
expectation be fulfilled? What are your plans for 
the ensuing summer ? I still keep possession of 
the garden I occupied when you were last my 
guest. Say you will come, Gleim, or look for no 
future odes. Did you receive the last ? 

I embrace you with my wonted friendship. 

Klopstock. 
* See note at the end of the volume. 



$68 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS* 



LETTER XCVIIL 

Gleim to Klopstock. 

Halberstadt, 25th October, 1785. 

A thousand times let me ask forgiveness of my 
Klopstock and his Windhema, * for having failed 
to apprize them of my safe return. Two lines 
would indeed have been sufficient ; but how could 
even these be written, whilst such piles of paper 
were lying on my table, and every moment was 
filled with dull irksome matter of fact business ? — -I 
was quite renovated by my charming excursion. No 
fish that leaps in your Elbe was more blithe than 
old Gleim. Too few indeed were those eleven 
happy days, and how rapidly did they pass away ! 
The recollection of that which I spent alone with 
Klopstock, reading his Hermann's death, effaces 
all the rest. 

By that divine poem, I do not forget your man- 
date respecting Hermann. Not long since the 
hero sent his sculptor hither, and having shewn 
him a block of black marble, exclaimed, ' su£ 
4 ficiently have I cared for others, it is now time 

* Johanna Von Wenthem, Klopstock's second wife. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 269 

* to think of myself; of this marble let him form 
' my tomb.' ' Hear and obey,' said the great 
Hermann, as Alexander once said to Phidias, 

* from this marble cast the image of my Beloved.' 
The more I compare my hero, dear Klopstock, 
with other heroes, antient and modern, the more 
do I find that Frederic towers above them all. 
How is it possible that the Emperor should not be 
his cordial friend ? Put this question, Frederic, to 
the Prince of Lichtenstein, the patron of the Ger- 
man muse, and who, happy man, sees and con- 
verses with my Klopstock every day. 

Gleim. 



LETTER XCIX. 

Gleim to Klopstock. 

To his dear, now venerable Klopstock, his true 
old friend sends in shameful haste the last frag- 
ments struck off from his poetical machine, just 
to shew, that he still exists, and still exercises his 
faculties. On this seventy-third anniversary of his 
birth, the old man is forsaken by his former friends 
— they do not leave him, they rather seem to have 
long since departed to another sphere. Ah ! my 
friend, what a poor nothing is all this world ! 

Gleim. 



270 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

LETTER C. 

To the same. 

October, 1795. 

I have just read in Eschenbmrg's translation of 
Meilhaus's works, the divine song of my — yes, of 
my Klopstock. Who would have thought of meet- 
ing it in such a work ? 

I had long since besought Klopstock* s brother 
for a leaf of his new journal, with the hope of dis- 
covering in it some lines of Klopstock. I addressed 
the same petition to Voss and many others ; and 
you too, I importuned— but all in vain. At length 
I learnt that the odes were to be published, and 
then that Nikolovius had refused Klopstock his price 1 
And what is that price ? Let me know, and if it 
exceed not the measure of my fortune, I engage 
to advance the stipulated sum, and shall think 
myself amply repaid by seeing the odes on this side 
the grave. 

Let me have an immediate answer. If you re- 
fuse me this gratification, I shall be ready to con- 
clude that the dear old bard I have loved forty 
years exists no longer. 

Gleim. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS* 271 

LETTER CI. 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

1795. 

I pretend not to excuse my long silence, dear 
friend ; but you will perhaps accept the poem of 
the Atonement as some reparation. Nikolovius 
offered me a thousand dollars, with which I was 
not dissatisfied ; other circumstances uncon- 
nected with Nikolovius delayed the publica- 
tion. If you have read the Berlin Archives, you 
must have seen my remarks on the Kantian philo- 
sophy. I should like to know what impression 
they were likely to produce at Berlin and Weimar, 
and what strictures had been passed on the occa- 
sion. Of course, I need not ask what would be 
said by Kant's disciples. 

I have sent you the Grammatical Dialogues. 
You may remember our conversation on the Greeks 
and Latins produced a not unpleasant contest. If 
you receive any pleasure from the perusal, you 
must reward the author by favouring him with 
criticisms and emendations. 

Klopstock. 



27? KLGPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

LETTER CIL 

Xyleim to Klopstock. 

1795. 

For your long silence you "have indeed made 
ample reparation by your Atonement. But why 
should this poem, at once so awful and so lovely,, 
appear in Jackobi's pocket-book ? What Dacier 
says of Anacreon I would here apply to Klop- 
stock. Would I might live to see the time when 
such master pieces of genius should no longer be 
crouded into almanacks and magazines. 

I long to read your strictures on the Kantish 
philosophy, which in my opinion builds not, but de- 
stroys. The Grammatical Dialogues have afforded 
me great pleasure. I took them to my garden on 
Sunday, and read to the chapter of Rights. Of 
your former dispute you may expect to see some 
remembrancers previous to publication. Such is my 
affection for Klopstock and all the productions of 
his pen, that I think myself entitled to assume the 
censorial office. I am more than all the Klop- 
stockianers, your 

Gleim. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 273 



LETTER CIII. 

To the same. 

1790. 
Non nostrum est tantas componere lites. 

You, Klopstock, like Moses, by stretching out your 
rod, might appease the raging winds of controversy, 
and produce a calm on the tempestuous waves. 
Has the Iliad emanated from one mind, like Pallas 
springing from the head of Jupiter, or were ten 
minds impregnated with the same inspiration ? Was 
there but one Homer, or none ? Were the Khap- 
sodists mere verse-makers — (by the way, can an- 
other make a verse like Klopstock ?) Was the art 
of printing already known ? Did any poets flourish 
previous to the age of Homer ? Could these only 
sing, but not read and write? Is it more easy 
to believe in general laws, or particular exceptions 
to those laws of nature ? On such abstruse points 
I pretend not to influence your judgment, Klop- 
stock, nor even to advance my individual opi- 
nions. It is for you alone to reply to such ques- 
tions. No other critic can terminate the contro- 
versy, which, if you do not interpose, is likely to 
be protracted to a seven years war, or remain un- 
decided. Let me beseech you, therefore, to me- 

T 



274 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

diate between the contending parties, and (if 
possible) restore harmony between them. 

Gleim. 



LETTER CIV, 

Gleim to Klopstock. 



1797 



That you had forgotten me, Klopstock, I nei- 
ther did nor could believe ; but that you were the 
most dilatory of correspondents, I could not for- 
bear to think ; and what I thought, I some- 
times expressed, not without the murmurs of im- 
patience. Friends, said I, should live for one an- 
other, or they live but for themselves. Had you 
heard those accusations when you composed that 
beautiful ode, which so strongly proves your vivid 
recollections of our departed youth?* 

To-morrow I shall send a copy to Gosche. If 
I did not offer you my poem of the Hut, it was 
because I believed you indifferent te my sing-song, 

Gleim. 

* This poem was Das Wein und Wasser, in which Klopstock 
alludes to a scene of frolic which had occurred forty years before. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. QJ5 

LETTER CV. 

Gleim to Klopstock. 

1798. 

Pray, Klopstock, give orders to Gosche to send 
me those odes, which I must read ere I die in 
peace. I have twice implored this favour in vain ; 
and yet is he a good man, and well aware that on 
the second of next April I shall enter my eight- 
ieth year , that every line Klopstock has written 
is engraven on my soul, and that I am in every 
sense his first reader. 

Gleim. 

LETTER CVI. 

To the same. 

It is a festival at Halberstadt $ the odes are ar- 
rived. Klopstock, thou art neither Pindar nor 
Homer, but Eloa ! 

Gjlbim. 



t £ 



276 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 



LETTER CVIL 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

Hamburgh, 18th July, 1798. 

Your last short billet was peculiarly welcome, as 
it relieved my apprehensions for the state of your 
health. 

I had been lately alarmed by one of my visitors 
from Halberstadt, who mentioned your having an 
inflammation on the lungs, a malady I could not 
but consider as formidable to an octogenarian. I 
should have paid less attention to this intelligence, 
but from having discovered by your former letter 
that you had taken no steps for the erection of 
the monument at the village spring. 

I rely on your soon making this visit, and that 
you will forward to me a sketch of the scene, since 
all my friends here are anxious to catch a glimpse 
of the country. It creates no small surprise 
that the sources of so copious a spring should be 
found in a plain, and they persist in alleging, that 
I have intermingled an unusual portion of fiction 
in this ode. In short, dearest Gleim, it is absolutely 
necessary they should have a view of the spot*. 

* This alludes to the poem before-mentioned. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 277 

The younger Gerning, of Frankfort, is lately 
returned from Italy, and has brought with him 
eleven chests of antiquities, one of which he has 
given to me, and another I have begged for you. 

Fuger, of Vienna, (of which place he is a na- 
tive) has sent me some admirable sketches for the 
Messiah. He is, alas ! our greatest painter. Alas ! 
I say, since he even surpasses my beloved An- 
gelica. 

LETTER CVIII. 

Gleim to Klopstock. 

25th July, 1708. 
The Halberstadt visitor totally misinformed you 
when he said Gleim was ill ; trust me, the old 
man is now as hearty as ever. The spring mo- 
nument is not erected, but doubt not your wishes 
shall ere long be accomplished. Exegi — and as an 
earnest of my good intentions, I already transmit 
to you the sketch you desired. Gerning might 
well spare to you one of his eleven chests and to 
me another ; he will still have nine for himself, 
the number of the muses. Fuger — surpass An- 
gelica ! no, no, that is impossible. Fuger is Fu- 
ger, and Angelica not Fuger. Both may surely 
be equally great, as both are equally inaccessible 

to all but the rich. 

t 3 



278 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

Among a hundred pictures in my temple of 
friendship, there is only one Count ! Were I a 
banker, or the King of Denmark, they should be 
all Counts. 

Gleim. 

LETTER CIX. 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

Hamburgh, 6th May, 1800. 

The Canoness of Walbeck, alias Catharine Stol- 
berg, will present to you this letter, and inquire 
in my name whether you are not either blind or 
deaf? I should really be disturbed to find you 
were not one of them or both — for how should an 
octogenarian, who has never mounted a horse, ex- 
pect to preserve his faculties ? be assured, I shall 
consider blindness as a punishment well merited 
by your stubborn neglect of exercise. 

Your will see, my dear and surely not dim-eyed 
Gleim, our fair Stolberg. You will see her who is 
hitherto unknown — the lovely, malicious bride. 
Malicious, say I, for when I told her she must use 
her influence with Ferdinand, she replied, ' he 
needs no prompter,' and attempted to frown, and 
knit her brows as she returned this pert answer. 

Klopstock, 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 279 



LETTER CX. 

Gleim to Klopstock. 

Halberstadt, 11th June, 1800. 

I am a poor sinner, dear Klopstock ; you made 
me a present of your Messiah, and I have never 
thanked you for it; you wrote me a charming letter, 
which was presented by a lovely dove, and it still 
remains unanswered. I am too sensible, there cannot 
be a greater, I would say poorer, sinner than my- 
self. Oh ! that I could fly to you and be at rest ! 
With the lovely dove I have said many sweet 
things of my Klopstock, and also many bitter 
things of those who were unlike Klopstock. 

Till my sixtieth year, I rode my Bucephalus as 
freely as you bestride your Pegasus. I am now old 
like you — but, as you see, not blind. I write more 
legibly than you, am not deaf, and as you listen to 
the celestial music of the spheres, so do I drink in 
the melodies of your immortal odes. 

I have yet to see Leopold Stolberg ; but to the 
charming bride I am no longer a stranger, and I 
have not spied in her any marks of malice ; at 
least, she frowned not on me. Read, dear Klop- 

t 4 



280 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

stock, Jean Paul's Titon, refer to page 263, and 
tell me whether the praise contained in that pas* 
sage is not as fine as your own, or that of Bodmer 
on Noah ? 

Herder's Kalligone has made me acquainted 
with the destroyer (Kant), as Mendelsohn calls 
him — and I have no wish to be admitted to a 
nearer intimacy. This letter is not laconic— dear 
consort of our immortal bard, preserve it not. 

Gleim. 



LETTER CXI. 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

Hamburgh, 27th December, 1800- 

Behold my latest born— presented to you and 
Klamer Schmidt.* I have even sent the very pen 
with which these strophes were transcribed, t 

I have lately become acquainted with Nelson, 
a man perfectly free from pretension s— I should 
rather say, he never condescends to assume them. 
In his countenance there is an almost smiling ex- 

* The Editor of this Correspondence. 

i The latest date of any poem published in Klopstock's works 
is 1707. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 281 

pression of chearfulness, which would be very diffi- 
cult to the painter. 

My Lady Hamilton was very often my inter- 
pretess, and she exhibited in a small party the atti- 
tudes of Niobe, and other classical characters. In 
some of those personifications she was silent, but 
in that of Nina she also sung. She said more 
than once, with some emphasis, that she acted 
but for me. — I shall not forget the parting kiss 
with which this enchantress sealed our friendship. 
Farewell, 

Klopstock. 



LETTER CXIL 

Gleim to Klopstock. 

Halberstadt, 3d August 1801. 

Having been for some time afflicted with a dim- 
ness of sight, which rendered me unable to read 
or write, I yesterday submitted the left eye to 
the operation of couching. It was performed by my 
nephew, Professor Himly, of Brunswick, with no 
less promptitude than success. I have been per- 
fectly well since the operation, and long most 
intensely to behold my Klopstock once more in 
this new light, ere I shall be permitted to greet 
him in the mansions of eternity. 

Gleim. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 



LETTER CXIIL 

Klopstock to Gleirn* 

Hamburgh, 28th September^ 1801. 

I trust, father Gleim, (it was by that title I 
addressed Ebert, who was only five years your 
senior,) I trust you will be restored to sight ere 
you receive this letter. Let me hear, by your 
nephew, how you are, and what progress he is 
making in the new edition of your works. 

Should your eye be somewhat refractory since 
the operation, let Korte read to you my ode 
called Das Gehore*. Were I compelled to make 
the melancholy choice, whether I would lose the 
faculty of seeing or hearing, I should not hesitate 
one moment in making my decision. I embrace 
you with my whole heart. 

Klopstock. 

* Das Geh6re, an ode, in which Klopstock pathetically des- 
cribes the dreadful privations of deafness. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 283 



LETTER CXIV. 

Gleim to Klopstock. 

Halberstadt, 3d October, 1801. 

Shall my nephew answer you, dear Klopstock ? 
No, indeed, that shall he not. I will myself 
perform the task, since it is not he, but I, who 
exchange thoughts with Klopstock ; with him, 
the last survivor of all my former friends. Yes, 
Klopstock shall survive me also, and thus the ode 
to Ebert,* the most divine strain that friendship 
ever breathed, shall be partly verified. But if 
it should be permitted to me once more to be- 
hold the blessed sun, then shall I again behold my 
Klopstock. There is yet hope, if God but grant 
its accomplishment. My nephew has read to me 
your ode on Hearing ; how heavenly, exclaimed 
I, yet still, to be neither blind nor deaf, is better 
than to be either one or the other. 

Gleim. 

* The poem to Ebert, one of Klopstock's earliest produc- 
tions, in which he predicted that he shall survive all his friends 
but Ebert. 



284 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 



LETTER CXV. 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

Hamburgh, 7th December, 1801. 

It is now some time, dear Gleim, since you 
wrote to me that you hoped to be restored to 
sight in the eye that had been submitted to the 
operation. Let me know if this hope be ful- 
filled, for though I trust you have fortitude to 
endure the privation, I would far rather that 
fortitude were not put to so severe a test. Voss 
writes us, that his wife is hastening to you. This 
will afford you a pleasure in which I heartily par- 
ticipate. You will find my latest ode, 'The 
Emperor Alexander/ in the next number of the 
Minerva. I should have transcribed it, but for a 
gouty affection in my joints, which renders writing 
painful. 

Klopstock. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 285 



LETTER CXVI. 

Gleim to Klopstock. 

Halberstadt, 13th December, 1801. 

The hope proved delusive — the couche deye is 
still incapable of discerning objects. A cloud 
constantly flits before me, and I have scarcely 
sight enough to go in and out of the apartment. 

Since the operation, I have had one good day, 
and a hundred and thirty-three sleepless nights. 
My situation is more melancholy then even a Klop- 
stock can describe. I am devoured with ennui ; 
and in a town which maintains three Latin schools, 
a schoolmaster and a college, I have been unable 
to procure one good reader. 

Your ode on Hearing, has been read to me by 
Wilhelm Corte, but it is not enough to hear your 
odes, I would also see them. What a loss is mine 
when I cannot look and listen at once ! They 
always breathed a music to me so heavenly. 

My nephew, Corte, is at Berlin, and, conse- 
quently, the publication of my new edition de- 



2 86 KLOFSTOC*; AND his friends. 

layed. During my sleepless nights, I am accus- 
tomed to while away the time by composing little 
songs, in which my Klopstock is always before 
my eyes. In proof of this nocturnal diligence, I 
subjoin the two last, which I dictated to my 
good John Staman, whilst the kind-hearted creature 
exclaimed, alas ! what mournful things must you 
endite ! 

Gleim. 



LETTER CXVIL 

Klopstock to Gleim. 

Hamburgh, 1S01. 

I earnestly requested your nephew, dear Gleim, 
to apprize me whether you could or could not 
see. I was doubtless anxious for such a letter as 
should be the harbinger of good, but any intelli- 
gence is better than suspence. I trust you have 
passed through the shortest day with cheerful- 
ness ; and embrace you with my stedfast old 
friendship. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 287 



23d December. 

Just as I was sealing this letter, arrived your 
afflictive journal. So many sleepless nights! but I 
would rather not dwell on your sufferings. It 
should be the business of Klarner Schmidt, to 
procure you a reader. Corte must return from 
Berlin. Send me more night thoughts. That 
admirable poem on the British people, shall be 
forwarded by the next post to London. I conjure 
Klamer Schmidt to write to me immediately. Your 
prayer to death remains unanswered. The strong 
old age that lias withstood so long, can resist still 
longer* 

Klopstock, 



288 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 



LETTER CXVIII. 

Gleim to KlopstocJc. 

April M, 1802. 

The monument is erected at Aspendstadt, with 
the following inscription.* — Klopstock drank at 
this well to the memory of Gleim. The first pas- 
senger who inquired the meaning of the inscrip- 
tion, was informed, that an invalid called Klop- 
stock had quaffed of that spring, and was conse- 
quently cured of his complaint ; so in future it is 
to be called, the Well of Health. I transmit with 
this a plan of the monument, and hope to pro- 
cure a better whenever a good draftsman shall 
come into the neighbourhood. 

Gleim. 



* The name of the village in which the frolic, commemorated 
in the poem, took place. 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS, 



289 



LETTER CXIX. 

To the same. 



1802. 



The shrine at Aspenstadt is rising in reputa- 
tion—pilgrimages are made to it, and the water is 
brought to Halberstadt, where it is sold in draughts 
of health. The monument itself gives general 
satisfaction, particularly the inscription, whose 
golden characters appear to advantage on the black 
block of marble. Some few days ago, it was seen 
as well as it could be seen, or rather felt by poor 
old Gleim. A line of approbation, an intimation 
of satisfaction, would have consecrated the monu- 
ment to the proud friend of Klopstock. 

Gleim. 



i~ 



*90 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS tfftlfcNDS. 



LETTER CXX. 

Klopstock to Gleirn. 

It grieves me to the soul, my best Gleim, that 
you have not received the letter dictated from my 
heart when I was too feverish to hold the pen. 
You might there have found, not merely an ap- 
probation, but the most animated declaration of 
delight, which I could not express more strongly, 
than by saying I longed to be with you, that the 
lame might lead the blind. 

Klopstock. 



LETTER CXXL 

Windliema Klopstock to Gleim. 



June i, 



Klopstock sealed his last letter so hastily, that I 
had no opportunity to add a single line. I would 
fain have assured you of the satisfaction Klop- 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 291 

stock expressed at the erection of the monument 
by which his dear old Gleim has eternized the me- 
mory of a day that had left on his own mind the 
most lively impressions. 

He thinks the form of the monument extremely 
handsome, and is particularly struck with the 
brief, but noble inscription. 

You may be assured of the pleasure it gives him, 
since he shews the plan to every friend who visits 
him, and it is constant lying on his desk for that 
purpose \ it was the first thing of which he spoke 
to me, when his vile rheumatic fever left him, 
and the first effort he made was to dictate for you 
that letter, when he was not sufficiently recovered 
to move from the bed. How gladly should we 
come to you, how proudly attend you on your 
pilgrimage to the beautiful spring of health ! But 
as that is quite impossible, Klopstock sends to you 
some of his dearest friends, Madame Sicherving, the 
daughter of N. Reimarus, Mr. Poel and his wife, 
the daughter of professor Bursche, and her unma- 
ried sister. It will be the part of those friends who 
are charged with the most affectionate remembrance 
from him and his attendant, to look and listen, and 
on their return, faithfullyreport whatever they have 
seen and heard. It will afford particular pleasure 
to my Klopstock, if his good old Gleim can Wel- 
ti % 



29% KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

come them for his sake, and give them many 
pleasing things to repeat. 

And now one more request — Klopstock wishes 
for a coloured drawing of the monument, in which 
the tints of the rock which form the grotto should 
be distinctly marked — now, farewell, excellent 
Gleim-- continue to enjoy health. 

W. Klopstock. 



LETTER CXXII. 

Gleim to Klopstock, 



June 20, 1802. 



The announced party of travellers descended 
like an angelic vision to my little hut, since they 
brought tidings of Klopstock, which made old 
Gleim's heart dance with joy — cordially would the 
Elder have accompanied themtoKlopstock's spring 
— but fate forbade. Having looked in vain for a 
good draftsman, I am unable to procure a better 
plan of the monument — but if God spare me life 
and health, I shall certainly not rest till I have 



KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 293 

discovered one, and from his design forward an 
engraving. I do not yet take leave of life ; my 
friend and his gentle consort are still cordially 
welcomed by this old heart. 

Gleim. 



LETTER CXXIIL 

Gleim to Klopstock. 

24th January, 1803. 

I am dying, dear Klopstock. As a dying man 
will I say, in this world we have not lived enough 
together and for each other ; but in vain would 
we now recall the past. 

The muse that has attended my course, still 
hovers round my steps to the very verge of the grave. 
A collection of songs composed by old Gleim on 
his death bed, are now preparing for the press, 
though perhaps not destined for many readers. 

I send a copy of the Night Thoughts to my 
Klopstock, since I am persuaded, that he alone 
will find in them nothing offensive. 

Remember me affectionately to the friend of 
u3 



294 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 

your bosom, the dear Victor and his excellent 
consort, the three Reimarus's, the friends at 
Ham, and all who love my Klopstock. It is my 
wish to be buried in my own garden. Around 
the grave shall be placed the marble urns of my 
departed friends — the symbols of my vanished 



END OF THE LETTERS. 



NOTES. 



Preface— Like the monumental mounds of their Northern 
ancestors.*— Page xx. 



•© 



It was a custom among the Northern people, that every sol- 
dier who survived a battle, should bring a helmet full of earth, 
towards raising monuments to their slain fellows. (Cambden.) 



Translation of the quotation at the end of the preface. — Page xxxiii. 

Those who have known Klopstock, respect as much as they 
admired him. Religion, liberty, and love, occupied all his 
thoughts. His religious profession was found in the perform 
ance of all his duties ; he even gave up the cause of liberty when 
innocent blood would have denied it j and fidelity consecrated 
all the attachments of his heart. Nor had he recourse to his 
imagination^ justify an error 5 it exalted his soul without lead- 
ing it astray. It is said, that his conversation was full of wit 
and taste, and that he loved the society of women, particularly 
of French women, and that he was a good judge of that sort of 
charm and grace which pedantry reproves. I can readily believe 
it, for there is always something of universality in genius, and 

it 4 



296 NOTES. 

perhaps it is connected by secret ties to grace, at least to that 
grace which is bestowed by nature. How far distant is such 
a man from envy, selfishness, excess of vanity, which many 
writers have excused in themselves in the name of the talents 
they possessed. If they had possessed more, none of their de- 
fects would have agitated them. We are proud, irritable, asto- 
nished at our own suspicions, when a little dexterity is mixed 
with the mediocrity of our character ; but true genius inspires 
gratitude and modesty, for we feel from whom we received it, and 
we are also sensible of the limit which he who bestowed, has like- 
wise assigned to it. We find in the second part of the Messiah, 
a very fine passage on the death of Mary, who is pointed out to 
us in the gospel as the image of contemplative virtue. Lazarus 
who received life a second time from Jesus Christ, bids his 
sister farewell with a mixture of grief and of confidence which 
is deeply affecting. From the last moments of Mary Klopstock, 
he has drawn a picture of the death-bed of the just. When in 
his turn he was also on his death -bed, he repeated his verses 
on Mary with an expiring voice. He recollected them through 
the shades of the sepulchre, and in feeble accents, he pronounced 
them as exhorting himself to die well. Thus the sentiments 
expressed in youth, were sufficiently pure to form the consola- 
tion of his closing life. Ah ! how noble a gift is genius, 
when it has never been profaned, when it has been employed 
only in revealing to mankind, under the attractive form of the 
fine arts, the generous sentiments and religious hopes which 
have before lain dormant in the human heart. 

This same passage of the death of Mary, was read with 
the burial service at Klopstock's funeral. The poet was 
old when he ceased to live, but the virtuous man was already in 
possession of the immortal palms which renew existence and 
flourish beyond the grave. All the< inhabitants of Hamburgh 
rendered to the patriarch of literature the honours which else- 



NOTES. 297 

where are scarcely accorded except to rank and power, and the 
manes of Klopstock received the reward which the excellencies 
of his life had merited. — From the translation of Madame de Stael's 

de L'Allemagne, 



Notes to the Journal to Zurich.— Page 50. 

John Arnold Ebert was born at Hamburgh the Sth of Febru- 
ary, 1723. He was one of Klopstock's juvenile companions, 
and universally admired for his convivial songs. With a ver- 
satility not uncommon in men of talents, he passed from 
the gayest to the most serious themes, and left Anacreon to 
become the translator of Young's Night Thoughts. 

In the long ode to which he afterwards gave the name of 
" Wingolf ; or, the Temple of Friendship," Klopstock had pre- 
dicted, that of all his early companions, Ebert should be the 
sole survivor. The presage, however, was not verified — Ebert 
died at the age of eighty, leaving Gleim, Schmidt, and Klop- 
stock to deplore his loss. 

Rabener was the satirist of Germany, and is well known to 
the English reader by a translation of his letters. 

Cramer was a celebrated preacher, and occasionally a poet. 
Like Klopstock, he appears to have been patronized by the 
King of Denmark. 

Spalding was also a preacher, and lived at Lassalm, in Swedish 
Pomerania. 

Giseke was one of Klopstock's earliest and most be- 
loved friends, often celebrated in his odes, and alluded to in 
his letters. 

Olde, was an eminent physician, who has also his appropriate 
fjraise in Klopstock's Temple of Friendship. 



298 NOTES. 



Notes to Letter 12th. — Klopstockto Schmidt. — Page 75. 

Waser and Kunzli were both literary men, and both resident 
at Winterhur. The former had published a German prose ver- 
sion of Hudibras. Hirzel was an intimate of Kleist, and as- 
sociated in the labours of the Berlin Academy. Klopstock has 
celebrated his social and intellectual qualities in his poem of the 
Zurchersce, written in commemoration of that day's pleasures. 
Nor has he failed to do justice to Mrs. Hirzel's beauty and 
accomplishments, The Miss Schintz, with whom the poet 
appears to have been so much captivated, was several years after 
married to his namesake and relation. 



Letter 14th. — Klopstock to Fanny. — Page 85. 

The Count Bernstorff mentioned in this letter, was the Danish 
Envoy at Paris, when he met with the first cantos of the 
Messiah, from the perusal of which, he conceived so high an 
opinion of the author, that on hi6 return to Copenhagen, he re- 
commended him strongly to Count Moltka, the King's favourite 
minister, by whose influence, his Majesty was induced to offer 
him a pension and royal protection. An instance such as this 
of voluntary exertion in behalf of a stranger has seldom been 
recorded in the annals of literature. Klopstock found in his 
patron, an assured friend, and was himself ever gratefully and 
affectionately devoted to him and his family. 

Hartmann Rahn persisted in his generous views of partnership, 
t;!l Klopstock, with equal obstinacy, compelled him to relin- 
quish them. The two friends were afterwards united in the. 
■closer ties of domestic connexion : one of Klopstock's sisters, 



notes. 299 

Hannah, maried Hartmann, who thus became a part of that 
family for which he had previously evinced such disinterested 
attachment. 

Of the success that attended his commercial speculation, we are 
left to form our own conjectures 5 but it appears probable, that 
Hartmann was not enriched by his ingenuity although his inven- 
tion obtained favour with the public, till fashion, with her wonted 
caprice, adopted some other novelty to which this was compelled 
to cede precedence. 



Notes to Letter \6th. — From Schmidt to Gleim. — Page 93. 

The passage quoted from Lucan is thus translated by Mr. Rowe. 

Thrice happy they beneath their northern skies, 
Who that worst fear, the fear of death despise ; 
Hence they no care for their frail being feel, 
But rush undaunted on the pointed steel : 
Provoke approaching fate, and bravely scorn, 
To share that life which must so soon return. 

A translation of the whole poem composed by Lodbrog, or at 
least attributed to him, is introduced in Blair's Dissertation on 
the Poems of Ossian. The concluding passages are highly spi- 
rited. " What is more certain to the brave man than death, 
though amidst the storm of swords, he stands always ready to 
oppose it : he only regrets this life who has never known dis- 
tress. The timorous man allures the devouring eagle to the 
field of battle 5 the coward whenever he comes is useless to him- 
self. This I esteem honourable, that the youth should advance 
to the combat fairly matched one against another, nor man re- 
treat from man. Long was this the warrior's highest glory ; he 
who aspires to the love of virginS, ought always to be foremost 
in the roar of arms. It appears to me of truth, that we are 



300 NOTES. 

led by the fates, seldom can any overcome the appointment of 
destiny. 

" But this makes me always rejoice that in the halls of our fa- 
ther Balder* 1 know there are seats prepared, where in a short 
time we shall be drinking ale out of the skulls of our enemies. 
In the house of the mighty Odin, no brave man laments death. 
I come not with the voice of despair to Odin's hall. How ea- 
gerly would all the sons of Aslanga now rush to war, did they 
know the distress of their father ? 

" I have given to my children a mother, who hath filled their 
hearts with valour. I am fast approaching to my end. A cruel 
death awaits me from the serpent's bite — a snake dwells in the 
midst of my heart. In my youth I learned to dye the sword in 
blood ; my hope was then, that no king among men could be 
more renowned than me. The goddesses of death will now soon 
call me— I must not mourn my death — now I end my song. 
The goddesses invite me away — they whom Odin has sent to me 
from his hall. I will sit upon a lofty seat, and drink ale joyfully 
with the goddesses of death. 

" The hours of my life are run out— I will smile when I die." 



Note to Letter 21. — From Schmidt to Gleim. — Page 104. 

The passage from Virgil's Eneid (book i.) is thus translated 
by Pitt : 

The vapours break away, 

Dissolve in ether, and refine to day, 

Radiant in open view Eneas stood, 

In form and looks, majestic as a God. 

JFlush'd with the bloom of youth, his features shine,] 

His hair in ringlets waves with grace divine ; 

The Queen of Love the glance divine supplies. 

And breathes immortal spirit in his eyes. 

* Odin. 



NOTES. 301 



Note to Letter 32. — Klopstock to Fanny. — Page 121. 

Frederic V. King of Denmark, whom Klopstock pronounces 
the most amiable man in his dominions, was a friend to science 
and literature ; he instituted an academy for the cultivation of 
the Danish language, and employed several erudite scholars in a 
literary mission to Arabia, an account of which may be seen in 
Michaelis's Recueil des Questions proposes a une Societe. 

Klopstock's description of Denmark corresponds with that of 
Mons. Mallet, the celebrated author of the Northern Antiqui- 
ties. <( Here are vast plains covered with a most delightful ver- 
dure, which springs earlier and continues longer than the south- 
ern nations would imagine. These plains are interspersed with 
little hills, lakes, and groves, and adorned with several palaces, 
gentlemen's seats, and some towns." 



Note to Letter 43.— Schmidt to Gleim. — Page 151, 
Langemack was a student in jurisprudence. 



Note to Letter 44.— Page 153. 

George Sucro was a Lutheran preacher, who had also pub- 
lished some essays in didactic poetry. 



Note to Letter 7/,—Page 208. 
To make Klopstock's voyage more intelligible, the following 



102 



NOTES. 



extract is inserted from a traveller, who will be found to agree 
with him in many circumstances : 

" About mid-day we had already lost sight of the Holstein 
coast, to the north, but towards the south, it stretched far out, 
like a faint blue stripe, on which no objects could be discerned. 
Langeland next appeared in the distance; like four or five islands 
together, for the bendings of the sea concealed from us the 
connexion between the hills, which are about two hundred feet 
high. In the afternoon, we saw Zealand and Femern over 
against us, with the church of Petersdorff, which shines at an 
uncommon distance, both of them flat islands, on which not a 
hill is observable. The night was beautiful, serene, and clear. 
We might have almost supposed ourselves on shore. By break . 
of day, we saw the wood on the coast of Femern 5 but the pro- 
gress of the ship was almost imperceptible, although we had a 
light wind in our favour. The captain thought he ought to be 
more towards the land of Femern, as the current to the west 
under Zealand was too strong, and retarded the progress of the 
ship. The island of Moen appeared to approach nearer and 
nearer to us, and we turned our looks with delight to the land, 
for the island has a most inviting aspect on this side. Green 
meadows spread themselves softly down towards the coi.st, 
crowned above with well built country houses and corn fields, 
and here and there a thicket or a grove relieved the uniformity 
of the landscape. We saw also herds by the water, and villages 
towards the shore. About four or five o'clock in the afternoon, 
we had proceeded round the extreme southernmost point of the 
island j the view of steep chalk, rocks, of which we could not 
before see the smallest trace, then all at once made their appear- 
ance. As far as we could now see round the island, these 
rocks, which are of a dazzling white colour, were in view, and 
rose to more than two huudred feet of perpendicular height ; 
the sea now also suddenly appeared as if alive -, far and near the 
vessels of the Sound floated around us— we saw at least a hun- 



NOTES. 303 

died at once ; and from Kiel to this place we had scarcely seen 
one. The advancing night deprived us of this animated spec- 
tacle. Moen's coast still shone at some distance, and before us 
appeared the white rocks of Stevens Klint, on the coast of 
Zealand. , 

" We sailed round Amak, and there we saw the excellent 
stone battery of the Three Crowns in the Water. All was now 
peace here ; country houses, among green shrubberies and 
gardens, stretched along the shore j the town, with its high 
steeples, lay before us, and in the distance, the castle of Fre- 
dericksberg." — — Von Buck's Travels in Norway. 



Note to Letter 75—Klopstock to his Father. — Page 207. 

The comparison alluded to in this letter is preceded by the de- 
scription of an earthquake. 

' ' The dying Jesus still continued suspended in torture — pensive 
silence encompassed the hill of death— and the earth incessantly 
trembled through its secret caverns ; yet in the neighbourhood 
of Jerusalem its latent trepidations were not heard. Once did 
the concussion reach the rebellious city, but it only raised an 
obscure sensation — something of a distant terror of impending 
vengeance for blood that was then flowing, seized the hearts of 
the multitude. Now the secret convulsions of nature cleft a 
rocky mountain far from Olivet, into the centre of which Ab- 
badona had retired to mourn in the depths of the earth ; he was 
sitting on the declivity of a subterraneous rock, viewing with 
fixed attention a torrent which fell at his feet — his listening ear 
was following the roar of the foaming stream, which, flowing 
from the summit of the lofty mountain, was dashed from cliff to 
cliff, when suddenly he felt under him a progressive trembling, 
and the rocks fell from their aspiring heights. Abbadona terri- 
fied at the convulsive pangs of nature, cried, " Does the earth 



304 NOTES. 

lament that she has brought forth children ?" In traversing 

the coast of the Dead Sea, he hears an unusual noise in the agi- 
tated waters ; with the roar of the waves are intermingled the 

groans of anguish and the howls of despair. So if guilty 

cities are shaken by earthquakes, when one that has most of- 
fended thinks that she shall sink into ruins. Groans and sighs and 
shrieks arise with each shock, and are mingled with the dull sound 
of the subterrannean scourge. — The earth again heaves and trem- 
bles, the air resounds with the fall of polluted temples and marble 
palaces, with the redoubled shrieks and groans of the inhabitants, 
while the pale traveller, filled with terror, flies. Thus the affrighted 
Abbadona hears the roaring of the Dead Sea, mingled with the 
groans and bellowing of the two apostates, and knowing them, with 

fluttering wing, he leaves the doleful shores." Mrs. Collier's 

translation of the Messiah. 



Note to Letter 72.-—Klopstock to Gleim.—Page 220. 

Fanny and Meta live in Klopstock's songs, and his second 
wife, Johanna Von Wen them, has also received from his muse 
her meed of praise. Of his attachment to Dona, not the slightest 
allusion occurs in his works ; but this reserve was obviously to be 
attributed to a sense of propriety rather than indifference, since 
in the following little poem, extracted from his correspondence, 
he endeavours to dissipate her diffidence in his affections, by a 
solemn assurance, that .she was no less dear to him than his 
Meta, and no less adequate to his earthly felicity. 

Halberstadt, December 2, 1 762. 
Du zweifelst, dasz ich dich, wie Meta liebe, — 

Wie Meta lieb' Ich Done dich, 
Dies, saget dir mein Herz liebe voll, 
Mein ganzes Herz. 






NOTES. 305 



Mein gartzes Leben soil dir dieses sagen 

Das hier im Staub, und jenes dort, 
Wenn sie, und du, und Ich zusammen 

Gliickselig sind. 
Du liebest Sie, und weist nicht welche Freude 

Mir dies in meine Seele strahlt, 
Denn leicht ist's deinen schonen Herzen 

Dasz du Sie liebst. 
O ! k'ame Sie, die wir gleich z'artlich lieben, 

Von dort, aus ihrer Wonn', herab, 
Herab zu mir, und raeiner Done 

Und sahe mich. 
Sie wiirde dir, denn sie kennt mich viel besser, 

Als du mich jezt noch, Done, kennst. 
Ach ! sagen wiirde dir, des Himmels 

Bewohnerinn, 
Mit sanften Laut und Schimmer in dem Blick, 

' Gespielrin einst in unsrer Welt, 
* Er liebte dich, — vvie er mich liebte 

' So liebt er dich.' 
Ihr Son, ein Genius voll' Morgenrothe 

Ergriffe seine Laute dann 

Zu lispeln in die Saiten — Meta 

Und Done, dich. 



Note to Letter 79,—Klopstock to Gleim.—Page 235. 

Krausehad long been the intimate and correspondent of Gleim, 
he was celebrated for his work on lyrical poetry. 

Mr. Grillo appears not to have profited by Klopstock's friendly 
advice. In 1800 he was visited by Klamer Schmidt, who observes, 
that the image of this old neglected scholar threw a shade of me- 
lancholy over all the agreeable recollections of Berlin ; the inde- 

x 



' 



306 NOTES. 

fatigable translator complained, that his whole life had been sa- 
crificed to Pindar, without procuring him either admirers or 
readers. To divert his chagrin he had written the life of this fa- 
vourite bard, for whom he still hoped to extort the gratitude and 
veneration of the next age. 



Note to Letter 78.— Gleim to Klopstock.—Page 232. 

Of the Quintus Icilius mentioned in this letter, Thiebault re- 
lates some anecdotes, not much to his honour. He was the ab- 
ject tool of Frederic, and by his suppleness and servility exhibited 
a striking contrast to the simplicity and independence of Gleim, 
who refused to be presented to the Monarch he had celebrated 
with such enthusiasm, lest he should be suspected of meanness 
and adulation. In one of his letters to Muller, he relates of 
himself an anecdote which happily illustrates the nice delicacy 
and respectable eccentricity of his character. It should be re- 
membered that in his youth he had served in the same camp with 
Kliest, and that he was pleased to call himself "the old grena- 
dier." In early life he had written many martial songs, «nd 
even in advanced age retained some enthusiasm for his former 
profession. * I have distributed (he writes to Muller) amongst 
' Prince Henry's soldiers, a thousand copies of my martial odes, 
' and not one to my old comrades in the King's army, not one 
' even to the hereditary Prince of Brunswick, who is yet friendly 
' to my muse, and loves the old grenadier. But I feared lest the 
f King, who often sees the Prince, should speak of these war 

* wngs, and that the King himself should mistake the grenadier 
' for a courtier. During seven years no one suspected who had 

* written Krieg est mien lied ; once indeed Quintus had a fancy 
1 to announce me to the King. 1 besought him not to think of 
' it j he persisted in the resolution, and a year after, kept his 
' word. The King sent the poet an invitation to Potsdam, the 



• 



NOTES. 307 

poet excused himself on the plea of indisposition ; the King 
forgot to ask for him again, and Quintus died. About a year 
ago, in passing through Rheinsburgh, I went to see the Sans 
Souci of Prince Henry, who had no sooner heard of my arrival, 
than he requested to see me j I obeyed the summons, and we 
had a long conversation together ; but I was careful not to 
drop a word which might lead him to surmise who it was that 
had written, (And thou, Henry, wast a Soldier I) he asked me to 
dine with him the next day —I declined the honour and decamp- 
ed — lest he should by some chance find out the old Grenadier.' 



Note to Letter 80— Klopstock to Gleim.—Page 238. 

Klopsock had adopted the Icelandic mythology of Odin and 
Ina— from the persuasion that it had been transmitted by his 
forefathers. Of the Cheruscans, from whom he claimed his des- 
cent, we give this brief notice from Tacitus. 

" Bordering on the side of the Chaucians, and also of the 
u Cattians, lies the country of the Cheruscans, a people, by 
" long disuse of arms, enervated and sunk in sloth. Unmolested 
" by their neighbours, they enjoyed the sweets of peace, for- 
" getting that amidst powerful and ambitious neighbours, the 
" repose which you enjoy serves only to lull you into a calm, 
" always pleasing, but deceitful in the end. When the sword 
" is drawn, and the power of the strongest is to decide, you 
" talk in vain of equity and moderation, those virtues always 
" belong to the conqueror. Thus has it happened to the Che- 
" ruscans ; they were formerly just and upright, at present they 
" are called fools and cowards, victory has transferred every vir- 
" tue to the Cattions, and oppression takes the name of wis- 
*' dom." — Murphy's Tacitus. 

The territory of the Cheruscans began near the Weser and 
extended to the Elbe, through the countries now called Lune- 



SOB 



NOTES. 



bourg, Brunswick, and part of Brandeburg. Arminius their 
chief, made head against the Romans with distinguished bra- 
very, and performed a number of gallant exploits, as related 
by Tacitus in the first and second books of the Annals, He was 
at last cut off by the treachery of his countrymen, and his cha- 
racter is given in lively colours in the last section of the second 
book. Varrus and his legions were destroyed by the zeal and 
spirit of Arminius. — Murphy. 

Klopstock boasts to Gleim, that he has made his Hermann to 
be born on the spot which was the virtuous Henry's grave. Henry 
the fowler, wa,s buried in the Abbey of Quedlinburgh, which he 
endowed to commemorate a glorious victory over forty thousand 
Huns. The Abbey was finished by his successor, and his gran- 
daughter, Matilda, installed as the first Abbess. This dignity 
^continues to be perpetuated in the person of some German prin- 
cess. The religion being Lutheran, no vows of celibacy are ex- 
torted, and no restraint imposed on the nuns. Previous to mar- 
riage her Royal Highness the Duchess of York was Abbess of 
Quedlinburgh. This town is on the banks of the Buda— hence 
Klopstock calls himself the bard of the Buda — whilst to Gleim 
he gives the appellation of the Swan of the Selke j both these 
streams have their source in the Hartz Forest. 



Note to Letter 86. — -Klopstock to Gleim.— Page 251. 

The subject of this tragical picture is drawn from the following 
passage in the Messiah. 

" Samna, thus was the Demoniac called, lay in a swoon by 
'' the sepulchre of his youngest and best beloved son — near 
" him stood his other son weeping, with his swelled eyes 
*' lifted up to heaven. — The fond mother moved by the intreatie6 
" of this wretched parent had once besought the deceased child 
ff they thus lamented, when agitated by the malice of Satan, 



NOTES. 309 

" Samna rove:! as now, among the dead. Ah father ! then cried 
" little Benoni, the darling of his heart, breaking from his mo- 
*' ther's hold, whilst she, filled with terror, hastened after him. 
" Ah my poor father, will you not kiss me ? — then clinging about 
" his knees he pressed his hand to his heart — the father embraced 
" him, trembling. The little innocent returned his endearments, 
" and looked up to him, with an engaging smile, endeavouring to 
ff attract his notice by the little pleasing blandishments of in- 
" fant fondness, when the father suddenly starting seized the 
(f child, and filled with all the fury of hell, dashed him against 
" the wall— his blood discoloured the stone and with a gentle 
*' sigh his spotless soul left its shattered habitation ; the mad- 
" ness of the wretched parent then subsided, he threw himself 
<f on the ground, then rising, snatdtaflfcg up the stiffening corpse, 
" which he folded in his fainting arms, he pressed it to his bo- 
" som, and while the mother rent the air with her shrieks and 
*f lamentations, he moaned inconsolable crying, my son Benoni, 
* f O Benoni, my dear son !" 



Note to Letter 109. — Klopsiock to Gleim.—Page 278. 

This bride was the daughter of the Count Stolberg, and the 
wife of Ferdinand, Count Stolberg, w T ho acquired some notoriety 
by killing in 1798, the only wolf that had appeared in the 
country for fifty years. 



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VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 

1. TRAVELS THROUGH NORWAY AND LAPLAND, in the Years 
1806, 7, and 8. By LEOPOLD VON BUCH, Member of the Royal Aca- 
demy of Sciences at Berlin. Translated from the German. By JOHN 
BLACK. With Notes, and some Account of the Author, by Professor 
Jameson. 4to. With Maps. £l 16s. bds. 

Von Buch, like the celebrated Humboldt, is a Prussian, and a man of 
sense, enterprise, and observation. His Travels through Norway and Lap- 
land contain much curious and valuable information, concerning a variety 
of objects, which had not hitherto been examined with skill and attention. 

We now take our leave of this intelligent and adventurous Traveller.— 
Edinburgh Review, No. 43. 

2. PROFESSOR LANGSDORFF's VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. In 2 
Vols. 4to. with 21 Engravings and a Map. Price £4 10s. bds. 



INTERESTING NEW WORKS. 

Contents. Vol. 1. Voyage to Brazil, the South Sea, Kamschatka, and 
Japan'. 

2 — Voyage to the Aleutian Islands and North-west Coast of America, and 
Return by Land over the North-east Parts of Asia, through Siberia to Peters- 
burgh. 

The Second Volume is sold separately. Price £l 17$. 6d. Ids. 

A most valuable and entertaining Work. 

See the British Critic, &c. &f<\ 

3- TRAVELS IN THE MORE A, ALBANIA, and other Parts of the 
OTTOMAN EMPIRE. By F. C. POUGUEVILLE, M. D. Member of 
the Commission of Arts and Sciences, and French Resident at Janina. Tran 
slated by ANNE PLUMPTRE. With engravings. £l 2s. bds. 

This volume will be found highly curious and valuable, being collected by 
the. author during a long residence in these interesting countries, and describ- 
ing at large their productions, the manners, customs, religion, and com- 
merce of the inhabitants, &c. &c. 

4. BLAQUIERE'S LETTERS FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN. Two 
large Vols. 8vo. Price 28s. 

For an account of this interesting Work, see the Edinburgh Review, No. 43. 

5. KLAPROTH'S TRAVELS IN THE CAUCASUS AND GEORGIA, 
by Command of the Russian Government. 4 to « £%' 2s. 

6. SICILY AND ITS INHABITANTS. Observations made during a 
Residence in that Country in the Years 1809-10. By W. H. THOMPSON, 
Esq. 4to. with Engravings. 31s. 6d. bds. 

BIOGRAPHY. 

1. MEMOIRS OF SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, Knt.LL.D. ; F.R.S.; 
F. S. A. ; &c. late President of the Royal Academy. By JAMES NORTH- 
COTE, Esq. R. A. Comprising original Anecdotes of Dr. Johnson, Dr. 
Goldsmith, Burke, Garrick, and many ether distinguished Characters. 4to c 
with Portraits, &c. £2 12s. 6d. boards. 

2. MEMOIRS OF GEO. FRED COOKE, Esq. late of the Theatre 
Royal, Covent Garden. By W. DUNLAP, Esq. in 2 vols. 8vo. with a 
fine Portrait from an original Miniature, 2ls. bds. 

We have seldom been more aroused and instructed than by the perusal of 
these volumes. Theatrical Inquisitor, Oct. 

3. MEMOIRS and ANECDOTES, selected from the CORRESPOND- 
ENCE of the BARON DE GRIMM and DIDEROT, with the Duke of 
Saxe Gotha, from the Year 1753 to 1790. Translated from the French, in 
4 large vols. 8v<n. price 2). lGs. in bds. The first part, just published for the 
Year 1753 to I77O, is sold separately in 2 vols. 

For some account of this highly curious and interesting work see the Edin- 
burgh and Quarterly Reviews. 

4. MUSICAL BIOGRAPHY ; or, Memoirs of the Lives and Writings of 
the most eminent MUSICAL COMPOSERS and WRITERS, who have 
fleurished in the different Countries of Europe during the last three Centuries, 
including the Memoirs of many who are now living. In 2 vols. 8vo. 24s. bds. 

5. MEMOIRS of GOLDONI (the celebrated Italian Dramatist) written 
by himself. Translated from the original French. By JOHN BLACK. 
2 vols.8vo. 21s. Ditto in Fiench. 

The celebrated Gibbon has pronounced the Memoirs of Goldoni to be more 
truly dramatic than his Comedies. Lord Byron has also pronounced the Life 
of Goldoni to be one of the best Specimens of Auto-biography. It is replete 
with Anecdotes of the most distinguished persons. 



INTERESTING NEW WORKS. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

1. LETTERS of ORT1S to LORENZO. Translated from the Italia*, 
•wirh a fine Portrait of Ortis. 8vo. 10s. 6d. 

2. THE BEAUTIES of CHRISTIANITY, by F. A. DE CHATEAU- 
BRl ; »N, Author of '« Travels in Greece and Palestine," " Atala," &c. with 
a Preface and Notes by the Rev. HENRY KETT, B. D. Fellow of Trinity 
College, Oxford. In 3 vols. 8vo. 3ls. 6d. bds. Ditto in French. 

This work is universally acknowledged to be the chef-d ceuvrb of its learned 
author. It altogether presents a display of one of the most extensive, the 
grandest, and the most interesting prospects that can engage the attention. 

3. THE SCHOOL for GOOD LIVING; or, a Literary and Historical 
Essay on the European KITCHEN, beginning with Cook Cadmus, the King, 
and ending; with the union of Cookery and Chemistry. 6s. 

4. A VIEW of the GENIUS and LITERATURE of the FRENCH 
NATION, during the Eighteenth Century. 8vo. 

5. THE ART of PRESERVING the SIGHT unimpaired to extreme Old 
Age; with Observations on the inconveniencies and dangers arising from the 
use of common Spectacles, &c. &c. By au EXPERIENCED OCULIST. 
In 1 vol. 12mo. price 4s. 6d. 

WORKS OF MADAME DE STAEL. 

1. LETTERS on the WRITINGS and CHARACTER of ROUSSEAU. 
8vo. 

2. AN ESSAY on the INFLUENCE of the PASSIONS, upon the Hap- 
piness of Individuals and Nations. 8vo. 10s. 6d. 

3. A VIEW of LITERATURE, its Influence upon SOCIETY, &c. to 
which are prefixed, Memoirs of the Author. 2 vols. 21s- 

4. FULMER, a Tale, to which is prefixed an Essay on Fictions. 2 vols, 
10s. 6d. 

5. DELPHiNE, new Edition. 4 vols. 2ls. 

6. CORINNE, ou I'lTALlE. 3 vols. 1 8s. 






WORKS OF FICTION. 

1. O'DONNEL : a National Tale. By LADY MORGAN, (late Miss 
Owenson). Author of the Wild Irish Girl, Novice of St. Dominick, &c. 

3 vols. 21s. 

2. AMABEL; or, MEMOIRS of a WOMAN of FASHION. By Mrs. 
HERVEY, Author of the Mourtray Family, &c. 4 vols. 28s. 

3. The MOURTRAY FAMILY. BY the same Author. 3rd. Edition. 

4 vols. 24s. 

4. The WIFE and the LOVER. By MISS HOLCROFT. 3 vols. 18s. 

5. MYSTERY and CONFIDENCE. A Tale. By the Author of the 
Blind Child, &c. 3 vols. 18s. 

6. LORIMER. A Tale. By Miss AI KIN, 6s. 

7. MADEMOISELLE DE LA FAYETTE; or, the Age of Louis XIII. 
Translated from the French of MADAME DE GENL1S. 2 vols. 12mo„ 
Ditto in French, 10s. 

8 The HEROINE ; or, Adventures of a Fair Romance Reader. By 
EATON STANNARD BARRETT, Esq. 2nd. Edition, 3 vols. 18s. 

9. AVENTURES d'EUGENE de SENNEVILLE et de GUILLAUME 
DELORME, ecrites par Eugene et publiees par L. B. PICARD, Membre de 
l'lnstitut. 4 torn. 21s. 

M. Picard is well known to be the most celebrated dramatic writer irt 
France. The French Critics have pronounced this to be one of the besrt No- 
vels that has appeared since Gil Bias. 



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